Tomb Raider II: The Dagger of Xian
by fatal frame fanatic
Summary: British adventurer Lara Croft has flown into the rural backlands of China, desperate to find clues that will lead her to the Dagger of Xian. Chapter 10 up! novelization of Tomb Raider 2 Please Read & Review!
1. A long time ago

Alright, so this is my THIRD Tomb Raider story, so if there isnt any intrest shown I'm going to abandon this project until I'm done with Silent Hill. If people do like this (I know TR 2 was the more popular of the classics) then I'll gladly continue this. Ive had one faithful reviewwe for my TR 1 novelization, so big kudos and thank you to LaraxCroft!

_The war that had waged for so long was nearly complete. The warrior monks of Tibet had fallen to the army of the Emperor, his key to winning being that he possessed a simple dagger that wielded more power than even the Ark of the Covenant. _

_The legend surrounding it was that if you were a true believer, and pierced your heart with the blade, you would be endowed with the powers of a dragon. Now, an enormous dragon was terrorizing the local monks who fiercely guarded the Great Wall. _

_A wounded monk, who had been shot and was dazed and confused, came too as the deafening footsteps of the beast approached, the dagger, glowing with mystical power, protruding from the monster chest. The dragon blew a blistering hot breath of fire, the screams of dying men and the smell of blood the only thing the poor warrior could sense._

_But he summoned his strength and stood, reaching out toward the handle of the weapon. He grasped it, pulling it from the body of the beast. Orbs of light were seemingly absorbed into the dagger, and the dragon fell down dead. _

_The Emperor fell down beside the fallen monster, the battle finally over. Only the outcome had suddenly turned. The warrior monks finally had the Dagger of Xian. Not wanting to risk any more than what they'd already lost, the dagger was taken back to it's original resting place deep within the Great Wall, the monks vowing to be its protector from that day forward._


	2. Prologue: Croft Manor England, 1997

Prologue

Croft Manor, 1997

"Well, what do you think…?"

"Um, what is it, if I may ask Lady Croft."

"It's an assault course! After that grueling business with Natla last year, I decided to build this course to hone my skills, and learn some new ones."

Winston shook his head, muttering things like 'improper' and 'unladylike'.

"Well, its very well put together." He finally replied, staring at the array of boxes, ropes, jumps, slides, and ladders, all atop a giant sandpit. Lara sighed, handing him a stopwatch.

"Alright. Ready…GO!"

She took off at breakneck speed, quickly disappearing around the corner of the mansion, the obstacle course that she had struggled with before now looking like child's play. After several more moments, he heard her cry out, "Time!"

He clicked stop.

"Three minutes flat!"

He watched Lara jog around the corner, a large smile on her beautiful face. She was clad in a gray tank and gray sweatpants, her long brunette hair tied tightly into a braid that trailed behind her.

"Gosh, that was my best time yet!" She wiped her forehead, Winston staring at her in amazement.

"Well its no surprise, you've been working on this blasted thing for two weeks now. I'd say you fancy some tea?" She nodded vigorously.

"Quite. And will you fetch the mail please?" She asked politely. He nodded, taking a side door into the kitchen. She sat down on one of the boxes, wiping her palms on her sweat pants. The day had proved to be very hot, and very sunny, which was perfect weather for the young adventurer to train in. She stood up, strolling into the kitchen as well.

On the counter already was a cup of ice tea, and beside it a stack of letters. She grabbed her tea and the stack, then walked over into her lounge room where she flipped on some classical music and sat down on one of her luxurious sofa's, picking one that overlooked her gardens and maze.

"Lets see…junk, junk, business offer, junk, travel brochure, request…Wait a tick, what's this…?"

There was a plain white envelope, with no stamp, return address, or even sealed for that matter. She pulled out the contents, which was only a single typewritten letter. The top half had been torn away, leaving only a single paragraph left to read.

_**There will be a reward if you can find any clues relating to this "Dagger of Xian". The relic has many mysterious and vast powers, not anything to be taken lightly. Please relocate to the Great Wall in China immediately.**_

"Winston! Come take a look at this!" She called out, re-reading the ominous note.

"Yes Ms. Croft? Is the tea okay?"

"The tea is splendid, but take a look at this. It was in my mail."

She handed him the letter, and watched as his face contorted into a look of confusion.

"I don't understand. You cant possibly trust the owner of whoever sent this, can you?"

She shook her head.

"No, but I've heard of the dagger they mentioned before. The legend is farther most intriguing, going that 'if you plunge the dagger deep into your heart, you will be bestowed with the powers of a dragon." She let out a small laugh.

"Of course that part is rubbish, but my trophy room is looking a little empty, and I haven't done a single thing since my little encounter with the Atlantean Scion last year. Besides, someone obviously wants this thing found. So maybe it is a good idea that that person be me."

"I don't know, it seems suspicious to me." He replied, handing the letter back to her.

She looked at him, this time a serious looking painting her beautiful, but strong face.

"I don't care, I have a feeling that a trip to China may be in the works here very soon."


	3. Chapter 1: The Great Wall of China

Chapter 1

The Great Wall of China

The roar of the helicopter was somehow reassuring as the red bird flew effortlessly over the backlands of China.

"Are you nervous?!" The pilot yelled over the deafening roar. Lara chuckled.

"Nah, I've done this before!" She flashed him a smile and two thumbs up. He gazed at her, a bit longer than necessary, then turned back toward the control panel.

She had on her usual raiding outfit; a form fitting sleeveless blue tank, her brown leather backpack secured on her shoulders. For leg ware, she was wearing a pair of brown short shorts, rolled up to her thigh as far as they could go, allowing much needed freedom of movement. Attached to the thick black belt and brass belt buckle was a pair of jet black leather holsters, each one holding a silver Browning HP handgun. For her supplies-flares, medical kits, ammo for the pistols, and a compass. For practicality reasons, she had again braided her long hair, tucking her bangs behind her ears.

"You see that?! We're almost there!"

Lara looked in that direction, the Great Wall quickly closing in. She felt her stomach knot in excitement, unraveling a rope that she'd use to repel to the ground.

"Good luck Lady Croft!"

"Thank you!"

She tied the rope to an iron bar that was jutting from the side of the helicopter, then hooked it her belt buckle. The ground was at least several hundred feet away, a height that would make most people cringe in fright. But, after turning around and hopping out onto the rails of the 'copter, she closed her eyes and leapt off, her stomach becoming weightless.

She heard herself grunt several times over the helicopter engine, which was slowly fading away. She dropped the last few feet, hitting the ground in a crouched position. Her eyes stayed locked onto the helicopter as it flew up and away, quickly disappearing over the rocky Chinese terrain.

"_Alright, now its just you, your guns, your wits, and unexplored territory…"_

She started a steady stride toward an opening in the rock near the base of the Great Wall, trying to remember if this was the correct location or if she needed to be a bit further south. The cave was dark and sloped downward; something she remembered from the photos of the area that the entrance had been altered by time, hiding it even more than the ancient Chinese warrior monks had to begin with.

She stepped down, suddenly racing toward the ground below as the cave went by in a blur. She skidded to a halt, the bottom opening up expansively. She stepped out of the dark crevice and looked up and to her left, spying the familiar guardhouse building that was the integral part of the Great Wall.

"_Ah, right on target…"_

She kept walking forward, a pool of water coming up to her right. She vaulted up on to some rocks that had crumbled and stacked overtime, creating a natural walkway.

"_Just go up and climb through that __**massive**__ crack in the side of the building…Man…what happened there…?"_

She heard the pattering sound of footsteps, then a growl. A Bengal tiger jumped into the water pool after Lara, backing away after it ventured into the water a little. She instinctively brought her hands down to her pistols, stopping when she realized that confrontation could be avoided as long as she kept moving.

There were several more rocks to climb up, warm sunlight finally falling onto her lightly tanned skin as she ascended up and out of the small rock oasis. A second tiger roamed out from the shadows, circling around the area along with the first one.

"_Sorry boys but I guess breakfast has to wait…"_

There was a pretty harrowing leap to make from the particular ledge she was on to reach the opening, but she caught the old charcoal colored stone with one hand, regaining some balance using her feet. She pulled herself up, scanning the layout.

It was completely empty, and drenched in shadows, with only two small barred windows letting in light. She walked over to the one opposite her, a cool breeze sweeping the small area with much relief to Lara. Below she saw the Wall extending forward toward another guardhouse, this particular area of the wall old and decrepit, ruined by war and the hand of time.

"_Not the delicate, beautiful feature that likes to be commercialized, with no history to it at all. This is the real Great Wall…"_

A landslide had caused rocks and rubble, now covered in spongy green moss, to cover almost half of the wall, making her realize that it could happen again if she were to be _too_ careless. As much as she could practically _feel _the dagger beneath her, she mustn't get to hasty. A quick search of the shadowy corners revealed a steel grating that she could lift up, leading to a water fill first floor of the guardhouse.

"_Wow, this part is really old…"_

She lowered herself down, the water chilling her to the bone. She crawled out, shivering and shaking in the dark chamber. She lit a flare, and saw up on the wall a switch and to her right, an old wooden door. She pulled down on the switch, opening the door like she expected.

She stepped outside onto the section she had looked down on, hearing water from somewhere below. The morning sun was still rising, casting a huge shadow all over the wall, but lighting up the mountains to her right, showing off China's landscape beauty.

A section of the wall ahead had already crumbled, a huge part of the side broken away. There was another wooden door to the next guardhouse, already standing open a little bit. Her boots made hollow echoes as she hurried across, hearing the distinct cawing of birds from above. One of the was swarming low, and even as she was thinking it would just fly away, it came at her with a loud squawk, causing her to draw a pistol and fire a single bullet into the ravenous bird.

It died on the spot, a small pool of blood forming around its lifeless body. She kicked open the door, seeing a ladder in front of her and another door to her right, hidden back in the dark. She climbed up the ladder first, finding an old silver key wrapped in a spider web.

There had been a lock beside the door below, so she climbed back down and inserted the key, sure enough turning and unlocking the door.

The next passageway was dark and ratted with spider webs. At the end the small chamber was lit up by a skylight, Lara also spying another opening at the far end. She crept through the dank corridor, feeling spiders crawling on her head. She passed quickly, smacking them off and stomping on them.

She never really was fan of spiders anyway. There was, frighteningly enough, almost a full-bodied skeleton sprawled up against the wall, a large med. pack at his right hand. She picked it up and placed it into her inventory, silently thanking the explorer from so long ago, now picking up where he, or she, left off. Through the opening there was a sharp right turn, a long slope downward to a long, narrow chamber, filled waist high with water.

It took a few seconds to slide down, a flare needed to light. Up ahead she saw an opening and an impossibly darker, narrower corridor. She hopped into the water, which had a thick texture and was slightly lukewarm. She trudged forward, the sound of whizzing metal suddenly filling her ears. She froze, her eyes instantly into search mode. She saw small narrow slits lining the walls, each one shooting out small razor discs.

"_Traps…? That means there is something important down here…"_

She watched for a pattern, quickly seeing a 1:2:1 sequence. She waited and moved accordingly, finally hoisting up onto the ledge and into the dark corridor. She needed another flare, and as she reached to light it she realized the ground beneath her was shaking, threatening to buckle against her weight.

She finally got the light, and saw that the floor of the whole corridor was cracked and decrepit, and she moved quickly into the larger passageway ahead.

A deafening rumble then filled her ears, and she had just enough time to spy enormous boulders rolling down from her left, darting down the right with lightning speed, the boulders crashing and rolling toward a fleeing Lara.

There was a spike pit ahead, and she jumped over it in a single bound, hitting the ground on a slope, sliding clumsily into a dark, quiet chamber several feet down. She was just finally standing up, brushing her hair from her face when a different, low-pitched rumble came to her ears. She lit another flare, paralyzed to see both sides of the walls slowly closing in; each one lined with long ivory spikes.

She spied a small opening up high in the wall, and she scrambled up to pull herself through before being completely decimated by the deadly wall trap.

She heard the rhythmic _swooshing_ of blades, and turned to see that she was right, two long blades separated evenly down the hall, which continued up further ahead around the corner.

She waited until each one was backing up to strike forward, them jumped over them with precision, missing each one by inches. As soon as she hit the ground at the end, more spiked covered walls started closing in on her, and she darted down another long dark hallway, seeing as she rushed down the hall even more spiked walls closing in from her left; a sweat already forming around her forehead.

She didn't see the floor at the end suddenly slant downward, sending her sprawling into another chamber below. From within the back of this room she saw another wall trap closing in, and panicked for a moment as she thought she was trapped.

But lucky for her, a section of floor had been withered away, and she was able to stomp it and fall into a new area below. The dark cavern walls were suddenly all overlaid with moss, the faint smell of fungi coming to her nostrils.

Near the end the cave opened up expansively, a several story drop off right above the handholds of a rope slider. She lifted it up from the knot holding it secure and gripped tightly, sliding from the lip of the ledge and was suddenly flying, air rushing past her, her braid flying vehemently behind her. She let go as another ledge came into view, landing easier than she had expected.

The cave became narrow and took short passage, which cut to the right and opened up with more light, something made by man. She looked over and spied a campfire, with a laptop sitting atop a crate decorate in a strange emblem.

"_And not to long ago by the looks of it…"_

What really caught her attention, however, was the large red door at the end of the cave, the same emblem that was on the crates also made of gold on this door. Something was missing however, preventing the door from being opened. She eyed it more closely, unaware of the thug speeding toward her-

-turning at the last minute to nock him to the ground, the machine gun he had fired at her sliding several feet away. She stood up, quickly drawing her pistols to aim them at the man sitting before her.

"Pardon me," she started sarcastically, "if that was just your way of trying the door for me…"

He chuckled, a smile painting his tired, worn looking face.

"With a Tommy gun on my keyring…" He said, his voice heavy with an Italian accent.

She replied coldly, "Though not anymore, so after you."

"Somehow…you don't behave like you have the…monks blood…" He said, eyeing her carefully.

"I understand that somehow is in my favor, so indulge me about the dagger," she pulled the hammers back on her pistols, aiming them toward his head, "I'd be indebted with your life…" She narrowed her eyes, clearly not playing around. The Italian thug suddenly became serious, looking away in a completely different time and place.

"These doors…are waiting for the right one…the right time to arrive…! Then, the daggers blade will honor the hearts," he removed a tiny silver flask from inside his jacket, "of those who believe…" He popped off the lid, Lara staring at him in confusion.

"And…which one is that…?"

He raised the flask as though giving a toast, replying, "To the sins and fortunes of Marco Bartoli!" He swallowed the remaining liquid from the flask, choking and then quickly dying.

"_Poison…"_

She holstered her weapons, looking at the man, to the door, back to the man.

"Hmm, perhaps not just yet then…"

She walked over to the campsite, where the laptop was located. She typed in Marco Bartoli into the search engine, a strange site coming up on a cult called the Fiama Nera. They apparently worshipped the Dagger of Xian, and were currently doing investigations to try and find it. Marco Bartoli's son headed up their current group!

"_Aha! …Gianni Bartoli… Via Caravelli... Venice."_

**Venice it is then.**


	4. Chapter 2: Venice

Chapter 2

Venice

Once again Lara Croft was flying through the air in a helicopter, this time riding shotgun next to a female pilot by the name of Sheena Miles, which she happened to have been friends with in high school.

"Don't you just love Venice?!" Sheena called over the deafening hum of the 'copters blades.

"Yeah, I've only been here once myself." Lara replied, removing her sunglasses to stick them in her backpack.

"Alright, I'm gonna drop you off on the roof of this building below," Lara gazed out from the door, seeing a run down, poverty-ridden collection of houses and buildings, with a water canal nearby, "so be careful, Gianni probably has his thugs scouted out all over this area."

Sheena smiled, giving her a thumbs up. She nodded, the helicopter low enough to allow her to jump to the roof below. There was a pile of trash that she maneuvered down until she was in a narrow, dark alleyway, a small courtyard up ahead.

She watched the bird fly away, again going into adventure mode. She had stuck with her usual raiding attire, the Venetian sun already hot by noon and her blue tank and shorts were perfect. She headed down the alley, a muscular guard Doberman suddenly rounding the corner. It was instantly at attention, first barking then trying to snap at her.

She drew a gun and fired several shots, killing it instantly. She heard the shout of on of the Italian guardsmen,

"Who's there!"

She inched her way down the alley, hugging the right wall. She peeked her head out and saw a tall, lean man standing on a balcony ahead, in his hands a sub machine gun and in a side holster, a silenced black Beretta. He was already looking toward the alley, presumably watching the dog, and he saw her as soon as she had stuck her head out. He raised the gun and fired, brick chips flying in a cloud of dust.

"_Stop!"_

He barked, and she drew both pistols, side-stepping out into the courtyard. She open fired immediately, taking him by surprise. He quickly slumped to the ground, a small bronze object slipping from his pocked to the ground in front of her.

It was a key with a tag on the end that read '_**Boathouse**_', and she stuck it in her pocket for quick access. There was another alley that lead toward a small cabin and the boathouse, both separated by a water canal.

"_That's where a boat comes in handy…"_

The door to the small cabin was already slightly ajar, allowing her to peek in and see an old card table, discarded steel folding chairs, and a ladder going up. She wanted to check the boathouse first, but saw that the end of the canal was blocked off, something that needed to be taken care of before she went joyriding in a speedboat.

She returned to the cabin, finding several flares in an old fire pit next to the ladder, then ascended it all the way to the roof of the cabin, seeing that she could enter into another building closely adjacent to the smaller structure.

She had to break a window to get in, and once she was another guard dog came leaping at her, drooling and ready to bite. A single shot and it was down, dead in a dark corner.

She stepped into the seemingly empty room, taking notice of the ugly yellow flooring, the only other source of décor being painted yellow spheres on top of the tiling, with the walls being a flecked, old wood paneling.

There was a bridge leading over to a small lever on the wall; the bridge looking like something you'd see a romancing couple in a gondola slowly flow under. She went over and pulled the switch, seeing through small openings in the stained glass of the bridge the wooden blockade swinging open from the dark passageway in the water canal.

"_Ah, very nice…"_

She returned back through the window to the cabin outside, descending the ladder back to the ground below. Unusually enough, the water in the canal wasn't stagnating and filled with disease, much like most other parts of Venice. Instead, aside from occasional vegetation, it was relatively clear. She dove in and swam underneath the boathouse doors, coming up near a ledge. She spied a keyhole next to the opening, and used the key she had obtained accordingly. The doors swung open-

-and she was suddenly under fire, the sound of Automatic Pistols filling the serene Venice afternoon.

She ducked behind a wall, drawing her pistols in defense.

"_**Kill**__ or be__** killed**__…"_

She stuck her hand around and quickly fired several blind shots, looking directly afterward to see him retreat into the cabin. She leaped over and into the small racing speedboat, and apparently it was a nice one to as a full wood paneling told.

She started it up, quickly making her way over to the walkway near the cabin. She hopped out and crept over to the corner, waiting until he was creeping out as well. He had passed her completely without even noticing, and she fired a single shot into the back of his head.

He fell face first into the water, his lifeless corpse continuing to bob up and down in the gentle waves as a red cloud started to form near his head. She got back into the boat and, seeing as the path ahead was dark, lit a flare before carefully driving into the passageway, the brick underpass immediately coming in narrow.

Ahead the sound of crashing water was prominent, and as she round the right corner, she saw the waterway dropped into a waterfall, the water flowing into a pool and connecting tunnels that continued further beyond. She backed it up some, then pushed full throttle to zoom over the small fall and land with a mighty_ splash!_

It rocked her around a little as she struggled to regain control, quickly back on track and moving again in no time. The tunnel led to a connection of many other tunnels, all of them ultimately leading to the same area.

She kept a steady speed around the perimeter of the area, coming around to a place where she could driver her boat in. Up high on the wall she saw a switch that was currently unable to be reached.

She saw a window and a wooden walkway along the side of the wall ahead, and hopped from the boat into the knee high fluid, then after a small trudge through the murky water to the ledge, she hoisted herself up. Several rats came scurrying from a dark recess in the wall, and she broke through the window quickly to avoid them; she disgusted rats. In this dark reclusive chamber was nothing but a switch, presumably to raise the water level.

"_Once a pull it I gotta vamoose though…"_

It took some effort to get the lever to go down, but once it did she instantly heard the sound of rushing water, and hurried out and over to a ladder than went up and over to where her boat would be waiting.

The large double doors to leave the tunnels however were closed, something that switch opened now that the water was high enough for Lara to hop in and pull it. She got back into the boat, driving out from the gloomy, repulsive tunnels out into fresh air and warm sunshine. There was an immediate left or right turn and she instinctively turned left, the canal quickly turning right. Up ahead she saw several gondolas, each one

wooden and painted black with red trim.

"_How romantic…"_

The four small boats, however, were floating leisurely in her path. She pushed full throttle, lowering her head as the speedboat crashed and obliterated through the gondolas. There was another henchmen standing up on a platform next to a small, ruined building.

He was firing a silenced weapon at her, and she slowed down long enough to take one hand and draw a weapon of her own, firing several shots that didn't miss like his had. He tumbled into the water as well, and she had barely enough time to look back ahead and leap from the speedboat-

-as it collided with at least a dozen of underwater mines that sent the watercraft up into flaming pieces as they all detonated in unison. She surfaced the water, thankful to see that the sniper had a speedboat similar to the one that she just had.

The mines had been set up to keep someone from entering through the large wooden green double doors that were shut and blocking the way, a giant clock set high above them. She hopped into the boat, climbing out of the water into the comfortable leather seat.

She revved it up, this time backtracking toward the tunnels and taking the right path instead. It led down a narrow canal that was surrounded by houses instead of ruined markets and warehouses. She saw a clothesline overhead, several articles of clothing still hanging from the tattered rope line strung from each building.

She ducked as the boat speed under a brick overpass, coming up to a sharp left turn. Here there was a small building she could drive into on the right, with a long wooden ramp leading up to a glass bridge further up the canal. In here she parked the boat to where she could hop in and easily speed from the small chamber, and hopped out to push the small square button on the wall. She waited for a moment, nothing happening at first, but then the low pitch _ding_ of what sounded like a church bell filled her ears.

"_The doors!"_

She hopped into the boat and hit down the throttle full blast, trying to mentally prepare for the harrowing ride up the ramp and shattering through the glass of the bridge, coming down and smashing two more gondolas in the process. All this time she was focused on the repeated sounds of the clock going off, counting each _dong_ as an hour.

"_Four…five…six…"_

She rounded the corner, taking the sharp curve at breakneck speed. There was another quick turn right, and ahead she saw the now open doors.

"_Eight…nine…ten…"_

She passed through safely where the mines had once been, hitting the ledge at the double doors so hard she was vaulted into the air, crashing down just as the doors closed, and she was but just a fraction of a second on time. Lucky for her.


	5. Chapter 3: Bartoli's Hideout

Chapter 3 

Bartoli's Hideout

_**The wide underground pass was swallowed in darkness, a large hex-shaped opening ahead **__letting in the outside sunlight. _

She moved forward carefully, a large iron grating raising up as the speedboat neared it. A large building came into view, with massive stone double doors greeting her eyes as she slowed to a stop in front of the wooden platform bordering the old warehouse. The symbol she had seen on the boxes in China were also here Caravelli in Venice.

"Gianni's little hideout…" 

She hopped out of the boat and pressed on the doors, finding them sturdy and unmoving. She moved to the left, taking the steps up and around a sharp right corner. Here the passageway extended into the corridor of some building, several windows letting in light. She saw a thug, muscular and clad in blue jeans and a wife beater, was knelt next to a switch, apparently trying to repair it. She hoisted herself up to the level he was on and drew one of the Brownings, locking it to his head.

"There," he mumbled, "that should fix it this time…Damn Bartoli…" 

He stood up, tucking the screwdriver into the back of his pocket. He turned-

-and was shocked to be looking down the barrel of a pistol.

"Excuse me, where can I find Gianni Bartoli…?"

He didn't respond, instead lashed out and swiped the gun from her hand, causing it to go soaring through the air. She gave him a swift kick to the abdomen, causing him to double over in pain. She drew the other weapon, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Now, lets try this again-"

He growled, then tackled her to the ground. She grabbed his chin, twisting his head up. He yelled, his voice sure to attract other guards. She took the back of his head with her other hand, and in one swift _crack! _he stopped moving, and she kicked his body off from top of her. She retrieved the pistols, then walked over and pulled the small lever.

She heard doors opening elsewhere, and she was certain it was the entrance doors. She retraced her steps, walking back out to the platform where she had parked the boat. Sure enough, the doors had opened, and she could see that the building had started to deteriorate, something a hideout is usually chosen for. Discreet, hard to find, and easy to hide things.

"My specialty is tombs, but I've dealt with Mafia before…" 

Inside she saw the peeling wallpaper and cracked tiles were all done in sick shades of pale yellow, both accented with white circular designs. There was a second floor balcony overhead, and she saw most of the second floor had broken away into piles of rubble on ground level.

She heard distant footsteps, and looked up to see another Italian henchmen, this one lean and dressed all in black, strangely enough wearing a white drama mask that covered only half his face. He began firing a sub machine gun at her-

-and she dived behind a pillar in the back of the large room, drawing her pistols. He continued to fire until she heard his weapon click empty and then as he frantically tried to reload.

She stepped out and open fired, seeing that he was also taking cover, crouched by the far wall and just out of her range. She stopped, moving back toward the two glass windows in the far-left side of the room. She saw a small courtyard outside, two Doberman dogs sleeping in the warm sun. There was a long corridor leading into darkness, lined with three statues of soldiers holding large, glistening swords.

"Dove siete andato? Mostrarseli donna codarda!" 

He barked in Italian, his voice stern with strict order. She kept her mouth shut and her pistols ready, moving around until she was close to the balcony again, but facing toward this entrance this time. She saw him leaning over, searching the front hall of the warehouse. She shot several times, finally a bullet going through his neck.

He flipped over the iron railing, letting out a short, painful scream. He landed with a dull crack on the hard linoleum, killing him instantly. She holstered her pistols, removing a flare from her backpack to go and explore the dark corridor before she tried ascending to the balcony above. She lit it up, the flare illuminating a small area around her. She came close to passing by the first set of armor-

-and fell forward as it brought the deadly weapon inches from splitting her down the middle. And then started a timed rhythm as the other two statues started swinging their swords down, filling the dark passageway with the sounds of slicing blades.

She waited, watching for a pattern in the traps, and then moved accordingly to pass through safely. In the end there was a completely dark little chamber, the right wall completely chain link, the area beyond submerged under green water. To the left there was a lever set into the brick wall, which she pulled-

-and there was silence, nothing happening as she pulled the ominous switch, aside from the fact that the trap had stopped.

"If that's all it does, then this has been a big waste of my time…" 

She headed back down the corridor, now eyeing the balcony up ahead. She had to get there somehow, but so far the room wasn't showing any access whatsoever. A pile of debris was sitting underneath a broken section of the second floor, something that now looked more interesting than before.

She tried standing up on it, finding it all too unstable to move around on. She got in front of it and tried doing a backflip, landing awkwardly toward the top, sliding just a moment before jumping forward with her arms extended, catching on to a broken crag near the edge of the railing. She used her other hand to pull up with the railing, giving her added leverage that was needed as she was slowly starting to slip from the balcony.

She stood up, dusting off her chest and knees, then vaulted over to where she had killed the guard earlier. She did a quick search of his corpse, finding no more ammunition and his sub machine gun to be almost empty.

There was half a bottle of painkillers, which she stuck into her backpack, and also some 9mm clips, which she stuck into the magazine holders on her belt. There was an opening to her far right, letting in substantial amount of light, which she could reach with a leap from the balcony she was on. Outside there was a slight puff of wind and the deep blue sky added to the cool, beautiful but breezy afternoon.

She saw a balcony at the far end of the hideout, with a red awning opposite of where she was standing. She jumped over to it, surprisingly sliding downward, narrowly grabbing the edge of the red cloth. She shimmied over until she could hoist herself up, then jump backward toward a second withered balcony.

She heard it start to crack and crumble precariously, and she hurriedly jumped over to a last balcony, where she could see large double doors standing agape.

"_Ah, so that's what the switch opened…"_

With much effort, she awkwardly maneuvered down to the ledge leading back into the hideout, straining and stretching but finally reaching it with both feet.

"Did you hear that…?"

"Go check it out…"

She heard muffled whispers come from up the stairs, and she pressed herself against the wall as she heard quick footsteps of a thug coming. He rounded the corner, sub machine pistol raised-

-and she had a pistol aimed directly at his forehead, flashing him a quick smile before closing her eyes and pulling the trigger. Dead bodies didn't bother her. Blood didn't bother her. But seeing them die and just _knowing _she was the cause of the pain and death was always something that tugged at her subconscious, even long after the adventure was over.

She learned that last year. The other guard hurried quickly to his pals help, to no avail, and she took him down just as quick. She rounded the steps, the walls turning from wood paneling to a deep crimson wallpaper, the floors going from tile to yellow carpet.

The wallpaper was flecked and peeling in places, with the carpet now an ugly shade of a bright, cheery carpet it might have once been. There was a single doorway at the top, which she entered through to see a completely empty room.

There was one window at the far end, letting in several rays of the hot afternoon sun. Through the window she saw a high iron fence, something she wouldn't be able to vault herself over. She shattered the window by means of her boot, and looked over the area below the balcony. She saw another small cabin floating in a reservoir by the canals, a guardsman walking around the outer perimeter leisurely.

Below she could see the top of an old gazebo, with vines all snarled and entangled around it; the centerpiece of a tiny courtyard. She continued down the balcony to another window, she broke accordingly. Here she saw an ancient and now disused old fireplace to her left and a doorway to her right that led back into the previous room.

A buff looking henchmen whom was topless and wearing cut-offs came rushing into the room, a Doberman at his side. She spied in his hand a rusted crowbar, which he was clutching tightly.

"What are you doing here? Did you kill my men back there?"

He asked, struggling with his English and his accent making his words hard to understand.

"I'm looking for Bartoli, where is he?" She asked smoothly, keeping her hands resting on her hips. Relaxed, yet ready for action.

"He doesn't have time for people like _you_. What's your interest?"

"I want to know why he's looking for the Dagger of Xian and why he has his men in China-"

The man scowled, now releasing the rabid dog from his grasp.

"You have _no _business here!" He barked, also advancing toward her with the crowbar raised. She drew the pistols and open fired, one at the man and the other at the dog who was bounding at her. She stumbled back out onto the balcony, the dog finally dying in a curled up position near the fireplace. The man was slowing down as well, the multiple wounds taking effect.

He put up a hell of a fight though. He finally fell down into a small pool of his own blood next to the window, and she holstered her weapons as everything fell silent once more.

"_If he can't just tell me why their looking for the dagger then it cant be good…"_

She walked over to examine the only interesting thing in the room, the fireplace. She saw that there was no place to burn anything, instead it was just brisk as well. She saw that it also extended backward unusually far, and she stepped into the massive structure and pushed on the back.

Sure enough, she heard and felt it move a little, and she started pushing with more force. Finally the giant stone block was back enough to where she could see a ledge to vault up and a passageway going deeper below.

"_Bingo!"_

She could spot rats scurrying about, looking for any sort of food to eat. They locked sigh on Lara as she started down the corridor, and decided to try and snack on her. She stomped most of them, one particularly disgusting rat not going down until she put a bullet in it.

She moved down and saw a long slope, leading to a small pool of stagnated water and a pathway beyond, guarded by a firetrap. Down the slope were two unmoving blades, sure to activate if she were to slide down. She didn't like the idea of taking a dip in some slimy green surprise, but she also didn't like the idea of making it at the end of the slope in pieces.

"_Just in, then out. Simple."_

She tightened her gloves, then took a couple steps back from the ledge, angling herself toward the pool and away from the slope, and she ran and jumped, being in the air a split second, eyes squeezed shut, then she plunged into the murky freezing water. She surfaced quickly, wiping at her face when she felt something brush by her.

She looked over and was terrified to see a croc swimming around her, dangerously close to taking a nice bite out of her arm.

She paddled over to the ledge in a rush, splashing and kicking as hard as she could. She heard it jump up and at in, smacking back into the nasty water. She pulled herself up, then turned, drawing a pistol. It could still crawl just as fast on the ground if it really wanted to; these creatures were dangerous on land and in water.

It took several shots before it settled in the water dead, blood pooling around it, possibly attracting more if there were any, although it was unlikely. She saw down the long passageway there were three large burners shooting up large bursts of flame.

The floor had broken away in places, leaving another icy plunge into the murky water below if she were to fail. There was a wooden section oddly enough among the cement floor, and when Lara stepped on it all the burners shut off.

She nodded, smiling at the thought that this was going to be easier than she had dreaded. But, as she readied herself the small, narrow hops across the holes, the burners came back on.

"A…timed trap?" 

She stepped off of the hidden pressure plate, then stepped back onto it. Once again the burners went out, and suddenly Lara was flying down the hallway, leaping across each broken section with a strange easiness, something that look almost like she was dancing instead of leaping. At the end she heard the fire start up, flaring up just as she passed the last burner.

"…"

It was a dead end.

Nothing but three brick walls and the corridor were behind her. She scratched her head in frustration, starting to slowly feel around each of the walls, taking in the rough sandpaper like texture and unusual coldness of the bricks.

Finally she hit a hidden switch and the wall to her right opened up, leading into a grand ballroom. There was little left of what was once a second and third floor, only noticeable by several platforms jutting from the wall in one place up above and then a few more another floor up. The rafters way up above were rotting and covered in moss from moisture, several of them holding up deteriorated glass chandeliers.

At one time they were probably dazzling and lit up the ballroom in soft white light, but now what was left of the crystals is gone, stolen most likely. Left however was a skeleton of the chandelier, and after hopping down from the ledge and getting up on a remnant of a table below the light fixture, she reached up and gave it a tug, surprised to see it hold.

Then she grasped on and put her whole weight on it, and amazingly it didn't shatter or break from the ceiling. It did groan in protest, something that did worry her slightly, but not however keeping her from climbing them. There was a switch up on the second floor, next to some windows that she could surely break and explore even more.

Above the switch was a portrait of a woman dressed in black, her expression solemn and blank, like she didn't even know she was there. Her brown eyes were locked forward, however, staring at anyone who looked at the decrepit painting.

She grabbed onto the chain holding up the chandelier and began rocking back and forth, getting momentum going in the fixture. This time she heard the wood start to crack followed by dusty particles floating down from above. She jumped a little early, catching the second floor ledge with only one hand, dangling precariously only for a moment.

The chandelier fell to the ground and shattered, the pitiful remains now breaking and twisting into something almost unrecognizable.

She reached up, getting her grip back and pulled herself up on the ledge. She wiped off her brow, beads of perspiration slowly forming on her forehead. She pulled the lever, the painting above it falling to the ground, revealing a cubbyhole.

She reached inside, feeling nothing at first. Finally her fingers grazed over something smooth, slender, and cold. She pulled it out, seeing that it was an ancient skeleton key, with a tattered tag that she could barely read had _Library_ printed on it.

"Aha…" 

She stuck it in her pocket, then took a look out of the window. She could see water far below, and a canal that extended further right.

There was a small lip right outside the window, and she some something else to her right that was just out of view. She cracked the window, breaking it until she could fit through, and saw that she was next to the chimney of the fireplace in the ballroom.

She walked over into it and looked down, seeing the fire pit was now gone, probably after pulling the switch inside and a long drop extended into darkness, Lara's eyes not able to even see the bottom.

She removed a flare and struck it, watching the light fall further and further, finally seeing it land into water below, the small square looking only inches wide from her standpoint way up here.

"_Must be somewhere underground…Or a basement probably. These buildings would be going under water these days…"_

She closed hers eyes, then right as she hopped in to the narrow opening she opened them, watching the brick wall speed by at a heart-stopping pace. The ballroom flashed by, and then there was darkness.

Close. Claustrophobia. Small. _Dark._

The world around her disappeared, and she hit the icy cold water feet first, the suddenness of it taking her breath away.

She realized that the bottom was only about a half foot away, and could touch it on her tiptoes. She moved forward, collecting the thankfully waterproof flare she had dropped moments before, standing for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the surroundings. She saw large double doors ahead, a decrepit lock to the left of it.

She instinctively stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out the library key, wading over toward the doors. The water receded inch by inch as she trudged forward, finally coming up on dry land and out of the chilly water.

The key inserted perfectly, and the doors popped open slightly; the key breaking on it unlocked the doors. She tossed it to the side, taking some effort to push the heavy doors ajar. Inside she saw several thick books strewn about, double doors to her left and right. Up ahead she saw the large open space come in narrow, then open up quickly into some sort of library.

She started forward, seeing the corners of several large bookshelves, each one lined with all sorts of different kinds of books. A henchman suddenly appeared from the shadows, holding an iron rod in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

"You!" He barked, pointing a grimy finger in her direction.

She checked behind her, sarcastically looking for some non-existent person.

"You talking to me…?" She asked politely, raising her pistols as he took another step closer.

"How did you find this place?" He asked quickly, his English terrible.

"Well, I was-"

"Nevermind. What are you doing here?"

He cut her off, taking another step toward her.

"That's close enough mister. I'm looking for your boss, Gianni Bartoli."

He shook his head, this time advancing more quickly.

"You have no business looking for Marco's son!"

She squeezed the triggers, ending the thug's smooth approach toward her.

"_Bugger…Nothing out of him either…"_

She holstered the pistols, stepping over his corpse as she continued into the library. She saw another room above, and used the bookshelf as a makeshift ladder to ascend up into the hidden area on top of the bookshelves, seeing several rats scurry away as she pulled herself up. There was a switch in the back, obscured by shadows; a nice home for the rats. She pulled it, hearing something opening down below.

"_One of the doors…"_

She made her way back down the shelves, rounding the corner to see the doors on the right side had opened, revealing a much larger section of the library. This room was lined with bookshelves, including a second and third floor with nothing but books lining the walls.

She saw an open window high above, and a bookshelf next to it that would allow access to it. She first scanned some of the shelves, picking out the right places to climb up, then started up the first one, the old bookshelves holding her weight as she started free climbing upward.

As she reached the top of the first one, she looked back and saw a windowsill next to another bookshelf, just happening to be the shelf next to the exit window. She kicked off and flew backward, soaring across the space and landed unsteadily at the lip of the ledge, twirling her arms to regain her balance-

-and she slipped, barely keeping grip of the sill with one hand. She tried leveraging her feet on something below, finally finding an empty shelf to secure them in. She hoisted herself back up, checking her forearm for the cause of a dull stinging pain. There were several small scrapes going the length of her underarm; the skin barely broken.

She climbed up the next shelf to the top, stepping over into the broken window. She saw the cabin again, this time much closer.

There was a brick fence going across the canal and up the length of a brick wall, leading to a tall white jailhouse. Also directly below were the courtyard and the gazebo, a guard sleeping on the bench in the middle of the small structure with his sub machine resting on his gently rising and falling chest.

She stepped onto the red awning directly below the window, sliding for a moment before jumping to the roof of the gazebo. The guard was startled awake, jumping up in a quick panic.

"Who's there! Show yourself!"

She hopped over to the brick wall, frightened as she heard the machine gun go off, bullets whizzing only inches away from her. She jumped into the water below, surfacing right next to the cabin on the water. She vaulted up to the front opening just as a man was turning from a coal stove at the far end of the room.

She removed her pistols and open fired, the man taken by surprised and hit hard with the hot lead. His eyes sprung open in pain, and he fell to the ground clutching his stomach, screaming

"Ahhh fuck! Ahhhhh! It _hurts_…!"

Almost like some wild animal in a desolate tomb, she put one final bullet into the dying mans head, ending his obviously incredible torture. She looked around, seeing something sitting on the table across from the stove. Already knowing what it was, she walked over and snatched it up.

"Ahhh, a detonator key…?"

She looked at it a bit closer, walking out into the evening sun to take in the details. Sure enough, it was the key device to setting off an explosive set somewhere else. She stuck it in her pocket, keeping her hand over it as she moved over toward the brick wall, seeing a closed door made into it by some amateur carpenter. She dived back into the water and paddled over to it, the door opening as she pulled herself up-

-and was looking into the barrel of the machine gun.

"You…You should not have come here…"

"I need to know why Bartoli wants the Dagger of Xian…"

She said sternly, keeping her hands close to the pistols.

"And what's your interest in it…_miss Croft…_"

She cocked her head, curious as to how he already knew who she was.

"What I know is my business…"

He started to raise the gun after he had begun to lower it-

-and she had the pistols drawn, darting quickly to the left behind the gazebo as a full on war erupted between her and the man. She hit him several times before diving to the ground, pelting his feet and ankles with the 9mm rounds.

He fell to his knees, and she fired only a couple more shots into his head before he collapsed to the hard ground; finally dead. She climbed up the gazebo to reach the top of the brick wall again, this time moving down it toward the jailhouse. Halfway down, keeping her gaze locked on the balcony located on the building across the canal, there was the detonator, a small circular slot on top to insert something in.

"_And I so happen to have that certain something."_

She pulled out the detonator key and crouched down next to the device, sticking the key into the appropriate slot. She pressed down, hearing a single click-

-then a deafening explosion as a huge cloud of hot air burst forward from her left, causing her to raise and arm and cover her face. She looked over and saw the jailhouse be completely obliterated by the set explosive, leaving a jagged opening smoking furiously.

She smiled, continuing down until she could hop across to a ledge in the destroyed building. She watched her step and navigated carefully over to a place where she could pull herself up and out of the smoking wreckage and on top of the building, the sky now painted with light blue and soft orange light as the sun slowly sunk behind the horizon.

She saw that she could move forward and down into a dark, narrow corridor, soon needing a flare just to see in front of her. Finally she came to a long, wooden slope downward, not even able to see where it went. Far away she heard the rhythmic swinging of something on a rope.

"_No time like the present…"_

She stepped forward and was suddenly rushing down, ready for anything.


	6. Chapter 4: The Opera House

Chapter 4 

The Opera House

_**The slide down the slope was short, and she came out on a wooden platform overlooking**__ several close-knit buildings. A heavy wooden crate was swinging in front of her, the cult logo stamped on it as well._

The last bits of light from the sun was almost completely faded away now, dusk now settling in for the night. Stars were slowly appearing up in the black canvas, something that was quite a sight from her standpoint here in Venice.

The sky just looked different somehow here than the one she spied from the United States, or even her home in England. Her attention was taken away from the night sky as she heard footsteps below, which stopped abruptly as she took several steps. "Markus…? Is that you? What took you so long…?"

She tiptoed quietly around the perimeter of the small platform, careful to avoid the deadly swinging of the storage crate. There was an opening in the roof on the building across from her; only a small leap away. She tightened the Velcro straps on her fingerless gloves, the air rushing past her neck as she took several steps back in preparation.

The guard's voice floated up to her ears,

"What are you doing up there…?"

She took off at a sprint, jumping as only one foot was left on the wooden platform. She was soaring across the canal like a bird, and in a flash was on a wooden trapdoor set into the roof of the crumbling building.

"Who's there?! Who are you?!"

She crouched down, drawing her pistols and pulling and then close to her chest in a raised position.

"What are you doing in this part of town…?" She asked smoothly, keeping her tone casual.

He must have noticed her accent and asked back smugly,

"And what is a northwestern aristocrat _bloke_ doing in these streets?"

She laughed out loud, cold and without emotion.

"What about the dagger interests your mafia group…or should I say cult?" She said, quickly cutting to the chase.

"The Fiama Nera have been worshipping the Dagger of Xian since ancient times, all the way back to the Final Battle of the Great War…"

"So you're a Tibetan…monk?" She asked, thinking there was only the warrior monks who worshipped the dagger.

"Bah, how dare you mistake me for one of _them._" He spat at her, true disgust in his voice.

"They stole the dagger away from us, the cheating fools. But its no matter, were coming close to finding the key…"

Lara shook her head, squeezing the grips of her weapons.

"What do you mean?"

Shots were fired, splintering the wood near her head.

"I've said too much! You are a _spy!_"

She scooted down toward the corner of the cramped space, and then stood up and quickly scanned the area down below, seeing the man on boat dock. She squeezed the triggers, sending a hot stream of lead in his direction, rewarded with several painful screams as the shots hit their mark. He collapsed into the water facedown, bobbing ominously.

"Okay, now that I'm alone I can concentrate on the task at hand…" 

The air was now filled with the gentle sound of chirping crickets or cicadas, each calling out for potential mates, making the now empty little sector more serene.

She looked over and saw some lights in the windows in a building to her far right, the letter "B" in fancy, decorative artwork and design.

"Bartoli…" 

She saw another warehouse adjacent to the building she had chose as her next destination, and started to examine the wooden trap door she had been standing on the whole time. It was cracked and withered; severely outdated.

She bounced on it a couple of time, the old wood creaking precariously, and she started to put more weight until she heard several splintering _cracks!_ Finally one side of the dilapidated hinged snapped from the crumbling fixture, and she toppled into the room below, landing on top of a thick dining table.

"Ow…"

She mumbled, rolling off of the table and on to her feet, fixing her braid and tucking away some stray locks of hair. She heard a door open at the top of the stairs ahead, and ducked behind the wall at the very bottom, waiting until he came through.

She heard his heavy footsteps trudge down, the man mumbling incoherently about leaving the bottles of booze in the fridge where the kids could get them.

He sounded fairly drunk. He stumbled into the small room, and she gave him a good solid kick to the lower back, knocking him to the ground. She snatched up the magnum he had in his hand, unfortunately with only one bullet left, and then stuck it to his head, making use of the final round.

She left the high caliber pistol by his side and knelt down to do a quick check of his pockets. She came up with only several 9mm bullets and a thick ornate key.

She pocketed the key and stuck the extra bullets into her backpack, then headed up from the exit that he had came from. She came out on a small concrete ledge close to the window with the B on it. She fired at it a couple of times with the Browning to shatter the wonderful work of art the stained glass had been.

The jump over to the window was no problem, but from her standpoint and the way the other window was situated the angle would be odd, and it'd take some precision in the air to hit it just right. She pressed herself against the back of the wall, and then ran and jumped forward, realizing she would land inside of it like she had hoped.

Instead, she reached out and caught on to the lip of the windowsill. Her feet were dangling for a moment, and she came close to impaling her palm with the broken glass, but she thankfully pulled herself up and away from harm. She stepped into the next building, seeing a ladder over in the dark left corner. She avoided several larger pieces of the shattered window, careful not to render her foot useless through the rest of this adventure.

"_That might make it a tad more difficult."_

The climb up the ladder was short, and the black passageway needed a flare so she could continue further. It turned to a closed door and a royal looking lock was set into the wall next to her, and she removed the ornate key.

The metal they were both made out of looked strikingly similar, and she inserted the old key into the lock, hearing a resounding snap as it turned. The door opened up and she saw yet another single ladder going up, this one much longer.

"Definitely should've hit the ladders more back at home…" 

She started up slowly, adrenaline causing her to increase speed as she went up." At the top she stretched her arms, walking slowly in awe as she kept her eyes locked on the crumbling walkway before her.

The drop down was a good few stories, and was almost obscured by blackness because of the incredible height. The roof, or what was left of it, was decrepit and already gone in many places, with only thin rafters remaining. Several unsteady looking pieces remained all the way to the other side of the old building; her only way out.

"_C'mon, just close your eyes and walk __**very**__ briskly."_

She started walking as soon as she thought this, and instantly started to wobble around and loose her balance. She stuck her arms out, keeping her eyes locked on the ledge that was slowly closing in. A section of the roof cracked, and her foot slipped dangerously close to toppling her to certain death. She hit one of the rafters and regained her steady stride, jumping the last few feet to the ledge out ahead.

She heard the fragments hit the ground below, and was internally grateful that it wasn't her mangled body crumpled up down there and the rotted roof instead. There was another ladder over here, this one taking her beyond some of the buildings she had been cramped in, and after a short hop below the corridor opened up into a humongous area.

Situated in the middle was an impossibly huge glass dome, protected by iron mesh and in relatively good shape.

"An armory…? Or…Opera House?" 

It looked awfully similar to the type of domes used in Venetian opera houses. She lowered herself down carefully, hearing her boots scrape gently against the rock as she slid silently down. As soon as her feet his solid ground below, she was bombarded with a furious array of hot lead, seeing chipped pieces of stone fly as they all missed her by inches.

She took off in a dead sprint to the left, drawing both of her pistols in unison. She turned and saw the cause of the bullets; two Italian thugs holding sub-machine guns. A third one came around the corner, holding the two leashes of rabid Dobermans, each one snapping and snarling, drooling at the thought of fresh blood.

He let them go, ushering them to run faster. She opened fired both weapons on the speeding animals, causing them to slide to a sudden halt, taken back by the surprisingly painful 9mm rounds.

She focused then on the man who had released them, a gruff dirty worker by the looks of it, holding an iron rod. Sub machine gun fire erupted again, and she was forced to start running around the base of the dome now taking aim at the thugs above. She targeted the closest of the three, oddly another man wearing a drama mask, this one black.

"_Persistent buggers…"_

It took several shots before he collapsed, his corpse sliding and tumbling to the cement ground at her feet. The worker was already rushing toward her, iron rod raised, and she dived backward, catching his abdomen with the flat of her boot.

She vaulted him up into the air and over her, his body crumpling to the ground with several sickening _cracks!_ She re-open fired on the guards above, this time they start walking toward her as they fired back.

She ducked behind a small alcove to her left, taking a second to breathe. The wall beside her exploded in a cloud of dust and pieces of the wall, and she quickly reloaded the pistols and waited for him to cease fire, then dived out and instantly began firing back, this time hitting both men in fatal wounds to the chest and neck.

They both collapsed and fell to the ground as well, the lifeless bodies banging and crashing down the iron working before coming to a dead halt on the ground below, literally.

…_And everything was silent again. _

She holstered the still smoking weapons, checking the dead bodies for supplies. All of the sub machine guns had been emptied on her, and for some reason they didn't have spare ammo.

"_Probably thought it'd be easy to just kill me off…"_

She couldn't help but smile as she checked the last body, then started to examine the dome.

"_How am I suppose to get in…?"_

She started maneuvering up the dome, taking note of careful foot placement as she slowly ascended the massive structure.

At the top she saw a small opening next to the place she had entered from, and lit a flare before moving over and jumping over to the ledge. Inside there was a switch, and she pulled it, at first hearing nothing and becoming slightly disappointed. But then she heard it, a muted thud as something dropped or opened.

"_Not the grandest way to enter…"_

She clambered out of the cramped space and started walking the perimeter of the dome, this time seeing a secret trap door that had now opened. Darkness spread from what she could see through the opening, and she tossed the flare inside.

It died out just before giving her momentary light to see a closed grating and two switches surrounded by old wood paneling and now faded crimson carpet. For a moment she hesitated, something that struck even her as odd and not the usual Croft, so she took in a breath and lowered herself down inside.

The familiar smell of mold and dust filled her nostrils, the typical smell you'd associate with anything _old._ She pulled the first lever, and nothing happened as the handle slid down with a dry _click_. She saw the circuit board was missing to the right of it, which would prevent it from raising the grating.

"_Wonderful…"_

She pulled the next one, and a different mesh grating slid up from another way into the opera, the opening coming to an abrupt stop with a ladder allowing access down. She descended carefully, the metal the ladder was made of now weak and threatening to break.

She dropped the last couple of feet, hearing enormous splintering _cracks_ as something dislodged behind her. She turned and saw several circular pieces of the ceiling moving slightly and slowly breaking away, finally coming down and stampeding toward her.

She started running, a dark alcove coming up ahead. She dived into it, trying to make herself as flat against the wall as possible as the giant debris came tumbling passed and exploded to a stop at the dead end of the corridor.

Then the deafening sound was suddenly gone, the opera again quiet and a complete derelict. She chuckled, the sound of her voice floating in the air, reverberating back toward her; the only sound of life she'd heard in the old Opera House.

"_I better push on…"_

There was another switch made into the wall here, and she pulled it accordingly. The grate that had opened before now closed.

"…_Huh?"_

At first she thought the action had been pointless, but then she saw that by ascending the ladder again she could now use the grating to go up even further.

She smiled and hoisted herself back up onto the ancient ladder, the groaning of the aluminum worrying her. As she neared the grate, it happened-

-The ladder broke away, and she just managed to latch on to the steel grating just as it collapsed in a heap on the carpeted ground below. She made her way the rest of the trip upward, dismounting to the opening on the left.

There was a small hop to a long platform below, two small circle shadows next to each other on the wooden floor. She looked up and saw light was seeping in through several holes and a crack in the ceiling, with two heavy looking sandbags dangling precariously from sturdy-looking wooden rafters.

She lowered herself down and began a slow stride forward-

-and was caught by surprise as a firm arm locked around her neck, causing her to instinctively bring both her hands up to try and pry her captors arm away.

She threw her head back, apparently catching him square in the face. He cried out in pain, immediately letting go of her. She took several big hops backward, spinning and drawing both pistols.

The man, who was rather attractive, buff, and clad only in a pair of jeans, was cradling his face with his palms. Lara spotted several dark red blood droplets appearing randomly on the floor.

"Now, how about introducing yourself a bit more politely?" She asked, her voice light and melancholy.

He looked up, almost like remembering she was here, and barked some rude command in Italian.

"That's no way to speak to a lady." She said sternly, now stepping back as he advanced forward. She heard a slight creak above, and spotted the sandbags, an idea popping into her head.

"_Just maybe…"_

She fired toward the ropes keeping them suspended-

-and smiled as she saw both suddenly speed toward the ground with lightning speed. The man wasn't bothered to look up, and was too late to avoid the crushing blow of the killer sandbags as they crushed his body in an instant death.

Aside from the loud, sickening _crack_ and slight outward spatter of blood from his body, which she sent a light shiver over her body, the death was relatively quick and painless; easier for her.

"_This place might be crawling with guards, who knows?"_

She moved off the stage and back up onto the carpeted ledge above, and moved down until she was next to a golden pillar obstructing her view. She saw several handholds that had been broken into it due to time, and she reached over and used them to maneuver up the pillar to a ledge way up farther from the stage.

She saw rows of old, decrepit seats that would have once seated at least five hundred comfortably. There was a large pool of water at the base of the stage; probably from many years of rain and snow that had melted. It was murky and green now, some sort of stagnate breeding ground for insects and parasites.

She saw a platform jutting out from the wall directly above the stage. It was a carpeted ledge, with a wooden one jutting out from it.

"_Too far for me, but maybe…"_

She took several steps back, then sprinted forward in a running jump-

-and hit the ledge unsteadily, one leg sliding from the platform. She kept hold with her hands, pulling and heaving herself up. She heard a rhythmic creaking noise, and saw through a small crevice in the wall a crate swinging on a crane that was malfunctioning, swinging the heavy object back and forth.

"_Dangerous…"_

She turned to the side and squeezed through the tight fitting, tumbling into the spacious room. It looked like some sort of cargo bay.

"_Are you kidding me…?"_

The faint sound of water came to her ears, too distant to conjure a location.

There was the sound of someone's heavy footsteps, which stopped as she fell to the ground.

"Who's there?!" Called a deep, heavy Italian voice.

Lara froze, pressing her back up against one of the large metal crates. The room was incredibly dark, and she saw the thin beam of a flashlight shine over the cargo and luggage.

She moved down low and inched her way to peek around the crate, seeing a heavy set man holding two Colt Python magnums, each one with an extended barrel and shiny chrome finish.

"_And a slug that would tear your arm off…"_

She drew both of the pistols, keeping them up close to her chest.

He fired a round into the air, the sound booming and deafening.

"I will not ask again!"

He was tall and wearing a dirty white sleeveless T-shirt and dark work pants.

"Are you Gianni Bartoli?"

She asked. There was silence.

"Who are you?" He asked quickly.

"Why do you plan on using the Dagger of Xian? What about it interests you?"

"And what might yours be? You awfully have gone through a little trouble to make it this far."

She replied "Really? I was just getting started!" She chuckled loud enough for him to hear.

He snorted.

"I suggest you leave right now," he commanded, "if you want to at least finish your little quest alive."

"I'm afraid I can't do that…"

She heard him step down from the entrance to the cargo room, Stating in a cold monotone.

"Then I will have to force you-"

She stood up, pistols aimed at him,

"-…Then I will have to kill you"

Suddenly the room erupted in gunfire, Lara getting several hits before diving behind a different crate. He continued to empty the powerful magnums, finally having to take a break and reload.

She sprung up, taking the opportunity to get a jump on him. She kicked his weapons away, following quickly with a swift knee to his chin.

He fell backward, and she knelt down on his chest, holstering one of her pistols to keep his hands raised above his head and firmly to the ground. She pressed the barrel of the pistol she had in the other hand to his temple, this finally getting his attention.

"Simply tell me, and it spares your life…"

She grumbled, locking eyes with him. He mumbled something in Italian, then smiled.

"We will find the dagger, and there isn't anything some _woman_ like you can do about it. Its destiny!" He snarled at her.

She brought the but of the gun to his head, knocking him out cold.

"Not unless I find it first…" She replied quietly, stepping away from Gianni's unconscious body. She saw a big plane up ahead, and several men driving carts around to transport the crates to the luxurious seaplane.

She spotted an open wooden crate up ahead, and hopped inside of it.

"Hey, get this one over here!"

She heard a worker yell, nailing the lid in place.

"You got it."

She felt the box suddenly start to move, spinning slowly as mechanical arms picked it up and back it into the transport truck. She was tossed and turned as they moved it around and finally set it into place, the truck driving over toward the plane.

The sound of water grew louder, and the smell of saltwater filled her nostrils. She was again picked up high into the air, the arms sticking her inside the cargo hold.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah that's the last. Tell Fab it's all good to go."

There was several long moments of nothing, and then she felt the vibrations of the plane starting up, followed by the huge engines revving and warming up. Pretty soon they started moving, slowly ascending further and further up and into the unknown.

The roar of the plane was deafening, and the darkness that encompassed her was starting to make her legs cramp and give her a serious sense of claustrophobia.

She pushed on the lid of the crate she had stuffed herself in, the nails on the lid finally giving way after several repeated kicks. The rumbling of the plane caused her to lurch forward, the pilot driving erratically. The roar of the engine drowned out any other noise, but she was able to get bits and pieces of a conversation from the pilot and another man.

"_Perhaps the artifact got away, perhaps Gianni had never found nothing"-_

The plane was suddenly speeding upward, the sudden shift causing her to slowly slide backward. There was a hook hanging from a chain on the ceiling, and she grabbed on to leverage herself a bit, which took some effort to hold. The engine died down a bit as they slowly leveled off, classical music now filling her ears.

She heard the quick, high pitched voice of some Italian, which was obviously the pilot.

"Its interesting oh yes I'm sure of it, believe me, but the story is not quite the same now is it?"

The response came from a tired, weary sounding Italian who was probably much older and leader of this little expedition.

"_Leader of the Fiama Nera…?"_

"Some day you will get a speeding ticket for the tongue Fabio." He sounded slightly aggravated.

"Hey, it's just a gut feeling Marco. Butm_…maybe…" _He sounded nervous as he finished the last sentence.

"You are wrong to look there!" Marco barked loudly, and she heard the other man quickly loose his breath as Marco apparently landed him one to his manhood.

"Is _your_ belief so _fragile_…?!" Marco called out as the plane suddenly started a speedy nosedive, stacks of crates toppling and crashing down on top of a flailing Lara.

"Relax! Breathe deep."

She heard the classical music switch off instantly.

The engines were screeching as the plane continued its deathly spiral downward. The cabin and entire jet plane was rumbling as it was racing toward the Earth below-

-and suddenly the flying vehicle leveled back out just as quickly as it all began. She heard Marco start to explain to Fabio, who was still regaining his composure after the crippling blow.

"The gut Fabio…has no more direction than a simple _through_ and_ out_."

The plane was stabilized once again, and Lara kicked the crate that had slammed into her hip after she had stumbled to the ground. She dusted off her shorts and tucked some hair behind her ears, taking in several deep breaths. The engine was again breaking up the conversation, and she pondered about going closer as Marco's voice filled her ears again.

"_When my father left when I was a boy, he confided to me that he was in light. Beckoned by something that was greater than impulse…"_

She lowered down a bit and started trudging across the cargo bay toward the ladder that she saw went straight up to the cockpit.

"He possessed the Seraph…But he was just a disciple in this design. His death, gloating a path to be sorted by the _one._" He paused, apparently letting that piece of info sink into the pilot.

"And myself…" "His son…You understand? Gianni and me… Have faith Fabio, not gut rot…We are such in the right place." "I knew it, I believe it to Marco!" 

"Good…"

Lara started up the ladder, going one…two…three…four rungs up the iron ladder when she suddenly heard the trap door start to open and Marco's booming voice.

"Fabio? Have you fixed that rail yet…?" 

She dropped down, drawing the pistols and aiming them upward. She was too distracted to hear the sliding behind her, or the heavy footsteps. Didn't turn in time to avoid the crushing blow to the back of the head by a steel wrench. All she heard was the assuasive remark from the thug behind her.

"Thief!"

Her vision was suddenly blurry, and she fell to the cold, hard ground below. Her eyelids fluttered, catching faint glimpses of Marco and the man leaning in to look at her, then her vision slowly deteriorated into blackness.


	7. Chapter 5: The Offshore Rig

Chapter 5

The Offshore Rig

_**The seaplane docked at an oilrig far off in the Atlantic Ocean, miles from anywhere. **__Bartoli __and his thugs carried an unconscious Lara Croft to a holding cell in the rig, also piling the crates in as well, all while she slept peacefully._

The first thing she could sense was cold steel pressed against her left cheek, and she allowed her eyes to flutter open. She was looking directly at a wall, which was all gray and quite bland; something to be expected at an oilrig. Her head throbbed horribly, and she had to move slowly to a sitting position. She touched the tender spot at the back of her head, feeling a nasty lump.

"_That'll be sore for a few days…"_

She checked out her surroundings, blinking a couple time to clear up the blurry spots in her vision. There were bars lining the wall closest to her, and she saw bobbing and weaving on the water was the seaplane, docked near her cell. Now she saw a tall blonde dressed in leather painted artistically on the side of the plane, admiring it for a moment.

The room she was in, however, was completely useless aside from some concrete colored crates, each one impossibly heavy and unable to be moved. She sighed, then suddenly brushed her hands across her holsters. They were empty, unfortunately.

"Bugger…" She muttered.

Ammunition for the pistols, as well as a medical kit and several flares were still in her backpack, and she whispered a short thanks for the small blessing. Attempting now to rise in a standing position, she used a crate for support and pulled herself up, staggering and then wavering back and forth. She steadied herself, and took a deep breath of air.

"_I've got to get clear-headed if I want out of this place alive and out of this cell at all…"_

At first she was slightly panicky at the thought of being deserted out here, but she soon began to think of the things she might uncover by being brought here, and instantly started thinking of creative ways to escape from the small prison.

She noticed a sprinkler system wired overhead, then spotted a small fire extinguisher near the exit door of the cargo hold. She couldn't help the touch of a smile that uplifted the corners of her lips as she walked over and picked up the canister, the solid weight somehow reassuring.

She pointed the nozzle upward, and pulled the trigger. Streams of frothy white foam shot from it and enveloped the small sprinklers, which activated shortly after the initial contact. This caused the mechanism locking her cell door to malfunction, releasing the sturdy metal lock. A siren also started blaring, and she was sure it would attract guards.

"_Weapons. I need to find my guns."_

She darted out of the cell and saw two thugs, one armed with a crowbar and the other an automatic rifle, rushing from a dark corridor. The water seemed to be her only escape, and she dived in before they could get any closer.

A trap door had opened on the bottom of the plane, and she paddled to it as hard as she could, actually seeing shots going through the water in front of her, leaving behind a tail of miniscule bubbles.

Starting to think this was suicide, she scrambled inside, water sloshing around as she scurried up into the plane.

In the adjacent room, separated by thick bars, she saw her pistols lying on the ground. It was impossible to reach them, but light glinting of the chrome finish rekindled her desire to arm up and get out of here. There was a small lever on the wall in here, and she pulled down on it. The low hum of the propellers died away, and a door above the chamber holding the pistols opened.

"_Back to dodging gunfire again…"_

She slid back into the water and swam over to a ledge beneath the opening that she had dived in from. This platform extended out close to the wing of the plane, and with the propeller now off she could hop over easily and scale the top of the plane to the prize- her guns.

She started a sprint down, hearing one of them yell

"There she is!"

Gunfire erupted once more, and she did a harrowing leap over to the wing, landing strong on both feet. She continued up the small slope to the top of the plane, and hopped down to the newly opened trap door. She recovered her pistols, instantly having them loaded and in hand as she hoisted herself up and back to the top.

"She found the guns!"

The other man screeched, and she open fired on them both before they could retaliate. Both were down after several well-aimed shots. Thankfully they had shut of the alarm, and the rig was plunged into eerie silence.

She moved across the plane toward a shattered window, stooping by one of the fallen guards as she passed to pick up a yellow Pass Card. The cult logo was imprinted on it as well, making her mind start working logically again.

"_How many branches do these fanatics have?"_

Ahead of her was shut double doors, locked electronically. The out cover of the card reader was yellow, and she happily swiped it. The doors opened to a short corridor, turning both left and right. A single lamp overhead illuminated the small path, filling the hallway with incandescent pale yellow light.

She moved silently and decided shortly to take the right path, which lead to a small set of steps. At the top was a single door, a small wheel set in the middle of it.

She gave it a good spin and the door swung open, and she drew a pistol. She scanned the room, seeing a ramp ahead with an open door at the top and a closed door with a wheel to her right. She relaxed, moving to re-holster her guns-

-when suddenly a rig worker rushed from the open door, closing it swiftly behind him. He stared at her a moment, blinking as if she would disappear. She played it cool, giving him a broad smile.

"I was wondering if you could help me leave here?" She asked, noticing the crowbar clenched in his left fist. His knuckles were white, and she realized he was on edge. He might snap any moment. He asked

"Who are you?"

"You're changing the subject."

"Who are _you_?" He asked again, more angrily this time.

Before she could respond he let out a high-pitched cry that sounded like an animal and rushed at her with the now deadly weapon raised, and she was forced to stop his quick stride toward her with a single shot to the forehead.

A quick search of his corpse came up with ammo for the pistols and some extra magazines, which she took eagerly. The door at the top of the slope wouldn't open now, so she spun the wheel and moved into the adjacent room. A card table was in the middle, surrounded by several folding chairs. An unfinished game of blackjack was laid out, as well as several mugs filled with strong smelling liquor.

There was a window here, and she took a glance out. The sky was a deep yellow, with the puffy clouds splashed with orange hues. The ocean stretched as far as the eye could see, stopping only at the horizon where the sky met Earth. It was hard to discern whether it was in the evening or morning judging by the sky.

Nothing particularly interesting caught her eye after a quick shuffle around, and she moved into the next passage, which happened to be a bunkroom.

At the first lower cot she was surprised to see a harpoon pistol and collected it, as well as a handful of tiny, razor sharp harpoons. She stuffed them into the backpack and moved along the rows of mattresses.

Toward the middle there was a button that she pushed, opening a door in the ceiling at the end of the passage. She hurried over to it, already spying a ladder inside. She pulled herself up, ascending the ladder just as quick. At the top the corridor turned left and opened to a poolroom.

The pool, situated in the middle of the room, had lines painted in lime green reflective paint, and was totally empty of any sort of liquid. Across the chamber was a control room, and she inched closer to the edge of the pool.

It was a good ten feet down, but luckily was a short hop across. She saw near the bottom there was an opening, but impossible to reach without water in the pool. Two large nozzles were pointed into the pool, and next to the control room were two huge orange containers holding something toxic.

"_Okay, I gotta fill the pool."_

She moved on inside the control room. There was a vast array of different colored lights flashing on control panels, each one designed to do a different, specific task.

She decided to leave them be, the only thing she saw of any interest being a green card reader. She filed that into her memory and moved on to another ladder going up rather far; an extensive climb indeed. Each rung that she went up, the smell of saltwater grew stronger and thicker.

"_Please be the way outta here…"_

At the top the corridor was short and the walls came in close. There was an incredibly long slope, and she could see through the opening far below there was water, and a ton if it too. She moved closer, seeing that the entire room was partially submerged with crystal blue water.

"_The treatment plant maybe…?"_

Aside from some humongous water tanks, each equipped with a ladder on them, the room was mostly devoid of any items or enemies. She saw a metal platform underneath the opening, and she noticed fragments of it lining all around the entire chamber.

She lowered herself down, the ledge groaning in protest against her weight, but thankfully refused to budge. At the far end of the vast space there was an alcove, covered by a sheet of thin looking glass. Inside she spotted a small object, green in color from what she could tell and rectangular.

"_Pass card…It's mine."_

She decided to start going around the right, seeing that there wasn't as many flying leaps to make from platform to metal platform. Gunshots from below caught her attention, and she looked down to see two men in orange wetsuits standing at the base of on of the water towers, firing handguns at her.

The ledge she was standing on was already dipping slightly toward the pool, and the broken hinge cracked when she shuffled her weight-

-and suddenly she was in mid air, falling only for seconds before landing in the water far below. The cold encompassed her, and almost took her breath away. She reached back and fumbled for the harpoon pistol, one of the men diving _back_ into the water, having a harpoon rifle now.

She got hers out and managed to squeeze off a few shots, nailing him twice in the chest and one going too high. Blood was quickly clouding around him, and she realized shooting him anymore would be a waste since blood loss was looking to be his fate. Sharp, intense pain suddenly grazes her forearm, and she looked down to see blood of her own pooling from a short, deep gash.

She kicked to the surface and fired off the last three shots, each one nailing and protruding from the second and last guy still perched on the platform.

His comrade floated to the surface face down, and she took the moment as he looked down to finish the short swim toward him and grab his leg, pulling him down into the water. His head made contact with the steel rim of the ledge, and he went into sudden convulsions. She clambered out and delivered the final shot from one of her pistols, the man now floating next to his backup.

"_Didn't do to good without him…"_

She climbed up the ladder, surprised to find herself closer to the glass alcove than before. There was a hook attached to the ceiling by a slider here, and after taking several steps back she took a running jump and grabbed hold of it, her force causing it to move smoothly down the track.

At the end she swung her body to get enough momentum to hit the part of the ledge directly below the alcove, which she did after letting go.

She used her palm to break a hole in the glass, and reach inside to retrieve the green Pass Card. After taking it off the electronic pedestal section of floor inside the alcove open, the drop leading into darkness. She lit a flare and dropped it, seeing the fall was only several feet.

"_Gotta lead somewhere…"_

She stepped down inside, picking up the flare. At one side the passage dead-ended about four feet ahead; not even a lever or switch, and she spotted an opening at the other end. A man was standing about halfway, and was alerted as she dropped down.

He came running at her, aware already that she was an intruder, and she drew both pistols, squeezing the trigger of each gun one at a time. She had to take several backs so the rig worker wouldn't fall into her, landing hard and facedown on the ground at her feet.

She blew two puffs of air to clear the smoke drifting from the barrels, and holstered the weapons as she stepped up on and over the dead man. At the end of the corridor she found herself in a secret alcove at the back of the control room, and eagerly stepped over to the card reader.

She swiped the access card she had picked up, and suddenly heard the sound of crashing water in the adjacent room with the pool. She walked out and watched as the nozzles quickly filled the pool with more of the blue ocean water, probably from the water treatment room.

As soon as she thought it was safe she dived in, dangerous chemicals stinging and burning her eyes.

"_Ah, not good."_

She swam through the opening far below and saw a closed metal grate blocking the way. Next to it however was a long, hooked lever, and she pulled it with earnest to live the chemically treated liquid. The grate swung open, and she continued her swim into the unknown.


	8. Chapter 6: Diving Area

Chapter 6:Diving Area

She swam hastily until an opening came into view overhead, and she surfaced in a flash, letting the putrid liquid drip from her body. The passage was short and immediately turned right.

The whistling and chiming of machines could be heard in the distance, as well as churning water. The floor was cold gray metal, the walls surprisingly just as bland; rust colored tin siding trimmed in black material that was the same as the floor.

She tried to squeeze out her cloths and hair as much as she could, moving to inspect the connecting room. It was another water treatment area, with a huge blade churning the water directly below her. Far below on the opposite side of the room was a ledge and corridor that went left into darkness.

"_Water is definitely not an option…"_

She looked around for another way down, knowing that the current would quickly suck her into the deadly blade if she even thought about swimming over to the ledge far below.

Across from the opening she was standing in there was a ladder, however the jump across was tremendous and not really a winning option either. But at the end of the hallway at the top of the ladder there was a button, a pictogram of a tiny fan above it, the actual switch flashing green.

"_Green means go, so red must mean __**stop**__…"_

She unholstered one of the Brownings and aimed it at the glowing target, closing one eye and unconsciously sticking her tongue out several inches as she focused.

She squeezed the trigger once, an explosion of sparks showering the hallway, but as they cleared she saw the button had been destroyed and a glance below showed that the fan churning the water was slowly spinning to a stop. She stepped back, wanting to dive as close as she physically could, and was flying in the air in seconds, diving smoothly into the water.

The texture was lukewarm and felt almost like there were tiny pebbles or granules of salt floating around in it. It slid across her skin as she swam, and it sent a shiver of unease through her body. She got quickly, shaking away the mysterious fluid as much as she could.

She heard loud machinery to her left, and peeked around the doorway. She saw more of the blue water setting at the bottom of the room, two pillars erected in the middle of the pool. Swinging above the concrete pillars were cranes, each one malfunctioning and violently sliding a large rusty hook back and forth.

The edge of the pool was marked in black and yellow fluorescent tape; the walkways lined similarly with diagonal strips of yellow reflective tape. She heard a door open at the end of the walkway-

-and an armed guard was suddenly onrushing toward her, raising a single, silver sub machine pistol. She instinctively ducked down and drew one of her pistols, holding it firmly with both hands and firing at the man, who stumbled as the barrage of bullets pelted his chest and abdomen.

His weapon slid from his grasp, stopping at her feet. She saw it was actually an Uzi, the magazine extending from the handle of it. It was actually a special type of clip, the regular ones not holding as much ammo as this one.

"_Wonder if he has any more of __**those**__…"_

She walked over and checked the ammo pack he had attached to his belt, and surprisingly came up with seven of the clips for the Uzi.

She stashed the new weapon and ammo into her backpack, giving the pistol she had used a reload before holstering it again. Feeling more ecstatic, she turned her attention to the middle of the room, which she knew she'd have to traverse to make it to the other side; the pool was only filled about knee high and the drop was about nine-foot.

She waited near the pillar closest to the exit across the room, and watched for a pattern in the swinging hook, which was very simple. After it slid to the other side, she jumped and grabbed on to the edge of the pillar.

The hook doubled back overhead, and she looked up as the deadly piece of steel slid smoothly past her head, only several inches away from decapitating her completely.

She continued to hang from the edge, shimmying around until she was close to the adjacent ledge. Using only one hand, she reached back and felt the lip of the edge, and grabbed on, her other hand releasing the pillar quickly to join the other on the walkways ledge.

She pulled herself up, a singing smell coming to her nose. It was a stench of something electrical burning along with a waft of toxic waste. Not good.

The corridor took a sharp left, leading to a sprawling, broad slope consuming most of the next room. At the bottom of the slop was a walkway jutting out from a hallway, bubbling green acidic juices popping and crackling all around the base of the room.

It almost looked deliberate, like someone had dumped the chemicals at the base of the room to make a quick end to whatever intruder might try and press onward. More of the warning tape was around the edges, signaling that at one point and time the toxic fluid might have been even higher.

Again, she took into account the small blessings. There was a raised edge to the top of the slope, and she prepared herself as she hoisted up, her boots suddenly sliding down the cool, steel ramp.

The nauseous pool was coming at her with breakneck speed, and she leapt at the last second to land on the far walkway, but only by centimeters. She scrambled up, moving quickly away from the sizzling fluid.

There was a second humongous ladder here, and she couldn't suppress the groan that escaped her lips.

"_Wonderful. Bloody wonderful."_

She started up, lighting a flare and placing it in between her front teeth, illuminating the narrow shaft as she slowly ascended. She pulled up and entered the spacious chamber slowly, a hexagonal opening placed directly in the middle of the room. She was heading over toward it, keeping her eyes sharp-

-and suddenly thick, tree trunk-like thighs were wrapped around her neck, someone heavy suddenly sitting on her shoulders. She instantly threw herself to the ground, tossing the rig worker from her back and over to drop in the center of the room. He cried out, and she scurried over to where he had tumbled.

He was holding on to the end of a large cooling unit that was protruding from the ceiling below the hex opening, peering up at her. She chuckled.

"Now I'm on top." She said lightly, her tone very serious however.

"If you expect me to beg, then I will not." He replied, looking down at the gaping pit he was dangling from; only a thin metal walkway was his target should he decide to risk it and let go.

"Looks like you're out of options. Give me the information that I need and I'll pull you up, refuse and I'll see to it you reach ground zero personally."

She was slightly taken back when this time, he laughed, although totally without emotion.

"We know about you. _All_ about you actually. That's why you simply can't win. That dagger belongs to _us_."

As he finished the sentence she shivered, although from some unknown emotion instead of the chilly breeze. He looked down for a final time, then released his grip. She watched his body fall into the creeping darkness, missing the walkway, and hearing the muted _thump_ as he shattered down far below.

"…_Ouch."_

Some tiny, blue and rectangular object had apparently fallen from one of his pockets, and was resting on the walkway below. The only way she could reach it was slide down the cooling unit and, unlike the thug, land on the small area of space.

"_This is gonna be disastrous…"_

She lowered herself down through the hole, her feet dangling for a moment as she aligned herself-

-and let go, almost toppling backward as she landed hard and started sliding backward at escalating speed. Her foot slipped off-

-and she grabbed hold of a crack, dangling now at least five or six feet from the walkway and the seemingly bottomless chasm.

"_Can't hold on much longer…"_

She waited until she felt assured that her body was centered over to platform, then let go. The fall seemed longer than several feet, but she landed in a crouched position on the walkway, right next to the object the thug had dropped. It was a Pass Card, the plastic on this one colored coded blue.

"_Glad he dropped it by on his way down."_

She was suddenly startled as the deafening roar of a helicopter started nearby, and she saw a single door at the end of the walkway, a blue card reader built into the metal wall beside it.

"_Convenient…"_

She moved down the walkway quickly, keeping a pistol ready in one hand as she swiped the card, the door swinging open. In the distance the room opened up expansively, a gaping hole letting fresh sunlight into the helipad from above.

There was a monstrous combat chopper sitting in the middle of the room, the Fiama Nera cult logo imprinted on the side under the blades.

She spotted several men in ski masks ushering in a larger male, and she recognized him as Marco's son, Gianni Bartoli. She drew the other pistols and dashed into the courtyard, both guns blazing and sparks flying from the chaise of the helicopter.

"Take us up! Now! And get rid of Croft!"

She heard Gianni scream in Italian, some of the masked men hopping back into the courtyard, each equipped with black sub machine guns.

She stood motionless for a second, then was kicked into high gear as they all three simultaneously cocked their weapons, and she brought up the pistols and open fired, sprinting low and to the left.

The room was suddenly flooded with sub machine gun fire, and she dived toward the nearest guard, kicking his weapon from his hand. She spun and delivered a second more powerful kick to his chest, causing him to collapse to the ground.

She popped several rounds into the man next to the fallen one, the rounds piercing his chest and arm. The final thug had back up to the wall, clutching his gun tight. The wounded man began crying out in pain, and she fired one last shot to his head.

This caused the terrified guard to start a mad dash toward the exit, but she grabbed the collar of his jumpsuit as he passed, causing him to slide to his knees.

She said teasingly "Hold on a second, I wanna ask ya something."

She placed her boot on his chest and shoved him to the ground, causing his gun to slide away from his grasp.

"Sit…Stay…Good boy." She holstered the pistols

"Just please don't kill me." He stuttered, his crystal blue eyes trembling and jerking from side to side.

"Just answer some questions for me. Can you do that?" She asked. He swallowed involuntarily, looking around.

"…Uhh…Um."

She quickly drew a Browning and fired down, inches from his outstretched hand that had secretly been sliding toward the machine gun.

"The next one will be higher…" She said coldly. He slumped his shoulders and nodded in defeat.

"What is Marco looking for out here in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?" She asked among the many questions buzzing in her mind.

"His son, Gianni, had a vessel stationed out here, the _S.S. Maria Doria_, and it was making off to find a relic very sacred to the monks of Tibet."

Lara raised an eyebrow.

"And that would be…?"

He shifted uncomfortably.

"The key to the temple in China requires a mechanism that's sealed up in some religious catacombs. To keep it protected the monks had some sort of key called the Seraph, and it resembled their goddess of Protection or something like that. They sunk the _Maria Doria_ in order to stop the cult from acquiring the Seraph."

She was looking away in thought, relishing the new information when suddenly she felt her pistols slide from their holsters, and he had them both aimed right at her head.

"And now that you know that, it's time to end your little scavenger hunt."

She looked up and saw several steaming pipes, and jumped up and grabbed holding, wrapping her legs around the mans neck. She pivoted her body in a quick, easy thrust, and heard a sickening _snap_ as his neck was broken. She dropped back to her feet, picking back up her guns, and started moving toward the exit opposite the entrance she had come through.

There were voices in the distance, and she instantly wanted to get closer. She was in some sort of control room, seemingly for a diving sub of some sort, and she walked toward a large glass window next to a control panel.

She was looking down into a vast metal chamber, with a guard standing next to Marco, who was dressed in his black cult robes and dark sunglasses.

There was a monk bound at there feet, unmoving and lying facedown. "Blood or answers. I have no preference. He should spill a bit of both." She heard the deep, raspy voice of Marco talking to the thug, who replied back,

"Okay Marco. Glad to have _you_ aboard."

She saw the man strike across the face of the captured man with a balled fist, hearing him grunt and cry out in anguished pain.

"What do you want?! C'mon, stick to your stomach!" He yelled.

She saw him hit again.

"Tell me! Where in monastery should we look!?"

And hit again.

"Eh? Brother?!"

He smacked him several more times.

Marco commanded, "That's enough. Leave him be for now."

She watched both of them trail out of the room and then out of sight completely. There was a trapdoor in the corner of the control room, and it opened to a ladder that went straight down to the room below.

She descended accordingly, stepping into the interrogation chamber. Two thugs suddenly appeared from around the corner of an opened with a pictogram of a sub above it. "Hey look, its her!" One yelled. She drew her pistols and killed both quickly with two well-aimed shots.

She holstered the still smoking weapons and crouched down next to the wounded warrior monk. His eyes were almost swollen shut, with black circles under each one.

His lips, which were bleeding, were puffy and swollen as well. There were red marks around his wrists where he had apparently been tied up with something sharp at one time. His face was disfigured, but she could tell he was distinctly Tibetan.

"Oh, you are not one of them." He said relieved.

"…But you are a monk?"

He nodded, moving accordingly so she could check his wounds.

"Brother Chen Barkhang."

She stood up, placing her hands on her hips.

"You have come for me? I saw bright lights all around me…" He asked hopefully, eyeing her up and down.

She shook her head, looking down at him.

"That was gunfire. I think it was _them_ who got taken away by it." She replied, looking over disgustedly at the henchmen. Some of the pipes overhead emitted steam and a high pitched squeal, causing both warrior and adventurer to look up for a brief moment.

"But _you _are my guide. My path-beater to a next incarnation. I…I _have_ done my time here haven't I?"

He tried to sit up, talking to her like she had been sent from God. To him right now, she probably had been.

"What are you doing here, and Marco Bartoli…?"

"Nothing! I…I lived righteous life! Here for reasons rooted only in necessary evil!"

She chuckled, helping him into a more comfortable sitting position to avoid causing him any pain.

"Calm down…" She said quickly. He nodded his head, settling down.

She saw a clump of wetsuits hanging from a rack on the wall, and she walked over to it curiously. He began talking again, this time getting to the points that interested Lara.

"As my father was before me, when he bombed Gianni's vessel deep into these very same waters. Now I'm here…errr _was_ here, to prevent Marco from salvaging the Seraph."

"The Seraph!" She exclaimed excitingly.

"You not know my life's work well!" He said, impressed.

"You sure you not here for them?"

He pointed to the dead thugs she had killed earlier slumped in the corner.

"Their jackanory days are _well_ over." She said reassuringly, a bit of sarcasm to her tone.

He continued, "they want the Seraph to unlock a malignant treasure we contain in our monastery, in Tibet. Since been stolen by imbecile vagabonds centuries ago, we've been without key to it!"

She began to unlace her boots, having finally picked out a short legged and short sleeved blue-trimmed SOLA wetsuit, already equipped for her to attach the holsters to.

"And how is it protected now?" She asked, finally kicking off one leather boot.

"Relying solely on cleansing of our prayers to keep it subdued, then the occultist Gianni B acquired it!"

She tossed her second boot toward him, missing his head by inches. It rolled to a halt several feet behind him.

"Trouble for you, he breathed life back into ancient belief. One not to be stopped by any amount of _head bowing._" He said pathetically. She slipped the suit on up over her raiding outfit, sliding into the smooth material with ease. He watched her as she suited up, finally taking notice of her wary glances in his direction as he started talking again.

"And now again, it is _here…"_ There was a brief silence as the monk looked off into another place and time.

"Marco…infected with madness! He has very violent mind, but not yet the power to satiate it."

She zipped up the suit and put on her backpack, sliding the pistols back into the leather holsters.

"…So…We'll reach for our weapons once more…"

He said, fierce determination overlaid in his voice.

She straightened the buckle at her waist, looking down at the warrior.

"The true detox of evil…" She said assuringly.

She helped him stand up to his feet, his eyes darting around as they adjusted to the surroundings.

"Where can you be taking me…? I thought this was my big break?" He asked jokingly, trying to lighten the suddenly serious mood.

"I guess now I _can_ rest. Oh, I need some…"

She heard the whisper of a silenced weapon fire from somewhere, and the monk cried out in shock, bringing his hand up toward his arm, which was now bleeding profusely.

He looked surprised, and was suddenly taken down as a second shot entered cleanly right between his eyes.

She did a quick 180 spin, drawing both pistols, and open fired on the man dressed in all black and wearing the thick black sunglasses as he ducked behind a wall up on a ledge

above.

"Marco!"

An alarm was suddenly blaring, and she looked toward the entrance leading to the diving area for the mini sub. She kept the guns firmly in a tight grip and started dashing forward, hearing several more shots fired in her direction, sparks flying up from the ricocheting bullets.

She looked back periodically, firing a single shot each time, finally diving sideways and getting off several more shots before rolling up and out of his range.

She holstered the pistols, watching the tiny yellow sub submerge and start to descend slowly into the dark waters. She looked below for several precarious moments, then dived in after the fleeing sub.

"_This is gonna be a __**long**__ trip…"_


	9. Chapter 7: Forty Fathoms

**Authors note:**

This is the first of the chapters centered on the remains of a sunken ship. Keep in mind that it has flipped, and what was once the floor is now the ceiling, and vice versa. Sorry for any confusion.

Chapter 7:

40 Fathoms

**After a quick initial descent down a wide shaft, the mini sub was gliding smoothly through** the black water of the Atlantic Ocean, the last visible rays of sunlight filtering through the ocean's surface and providing the last of natural Lara would see for some time.

She was now grateful she had slipped on the SOLA wetsuit, the water frigid, and was holding on to a steel bar near the entrance hatch of the diving sub as it slowly made its descent downward. The roaring sound of rushing water was all around her, engulfing her, making her part of the ocean.

It was all almost overwhelming, but she kept her cool and her grip as they moved further and further down, unconsciously aware that all the swimming classes and breath holding exercises would probably be needed before long. Finally she used her other hand to rap several times, hard, on the top of the sub.

She was still sinking into oblivion when the mechanical sound of grinding gears filled her ears, and she instantly focused to the front of the sub. A thin, metal claw extended to suddenly twice its size, a blinking red light signaling a camera as well.

"What does he want? Me to say cheese…?"

The fingers of the claw opened up, coming inches from her face. She lifted her head back, suddenly thinking that maybe the driver didn't want her tagging along for the ride.

"Uh oh…"

Then it all happened in a matter of seconds. She could only see the murky silhouette of the monstrous Great White swimming from the darkness, its powerful jaws on a collision course with the speeding mini sub.

The driver must have looked at the last second and suddenly threw the vehicle in a tailspin, missing the shark by inches but now suddenly veering head on for an enormous underwater mountain ridge, and it collided head on with deadly force.

The water absorbed some of the impact, but the jolt was enough to ignite a small explosion at the front of the sub and cause Lara to loose her grip and suddenly spin out of control, quickly loosing herself in a sea of cold and blackness.

She steadied herself, floating aimlessly in a dark world of nothing; a new fear setting is as she realized she was marooned. A shadow above caught her attention and she looked up-

-seeing the Great White circling overhead, precariously watching her every move. She saw blood, and then noticed the cut on her palm.

"Bugger! Must've happened when the sub wrecked…"

Now realizing that her situation was much worse, she did a 180 spin and started swimming away from the marine predator, spotting some debris lying on the ocean floor.

"There must be deeper places than this, but I bet this area is of interest to Bartoli…"

Her lungs were starting to burn, oxygen deprivation quickly setting in if she didn't try and swim a little faster. She glanced back, not catching any sight of the shark, and continued to follow the trail of ruined wooden boxes and pieces of shrapnel.

Finally, appearing from the darkness, came a breathtaking sight. It was the underside of a ship, impossibly huge, and stretching a good length down the side of a mountain.

It was practically part of the underwater ridge now, the rusty and flaking bottom disappearing mostly out of sight.

"…Wow."

The anchor of the ship had somehow broken through a section of the overturned vessel, and she could clearly make out a jagged, but gaping opening.

"Aha."

She started to regain her swimming speed, the boat coming closer and growing bigger and bigger every second-

-when the Great White circled around her, causing her to stop and pull back abruptly. Her hand was still bleeding, though not as profusely it was still enough to attract the amazing senses of the shark.

Out of instinct she reared back and delivered a powerful soccer punch to the snout of the beast, and surprisingly it worked.

The shark swam away, deciding the potential meal was too lethal to digest apparently. She finished her swim to the ship, needing to use both hands to pull herself through the opening.

Thankfully there was an air pocket in here, and she swam up and surfaced, taking in several deep breaths almost simultaneously. The invisible savior rushed into her lungs with cool relief, and she choked up several times as she wiped the water from her eyes and face.

It was incredibly dark, the only thing she could sense being the lonely sound of dripping water in the pitch-black underwater cave.

"This ship…could it very well be…?"

There was great possibility this boat was the luxury liner Maria Doria, but Lara hated having her hopes let down so she removed a flare from her backpack and lit it, eager to try and find more dry area, as this chamber apparently showed.

There was another hole in the thick metal walls down in the far right corner, and she took in several more breaths of air before taking in a deep final one and holding it, then going back under the murky water.

The flare was quite handy considering how dark everything was, the bubbling stick of light illuminating a good five to six feet all around.

The harsh, rust and blue colored steel was now the décor of everything, any sort of color that might have painted these walls now sapped and desaturated away from years of battling currents and water damage.

"At one time this was probably the cruise liner to end them all…"

She went through a couple more of the dark, water filled antechambers, all of which were mostly empty, and finally came to a door that was on the floor. It was broken off the hinges and floating lazily next to the opening.

When the ship was still afloat, however, it was more than likely a trapdoor on the ceiling. The skull of a person, complete with several vertebrae protruding from the bottom, was also drifting near the opening.

"Looks like I'm in a tomb after all…"

She swam down through it and came up through another opening into a much wider, bigger room. Several wooden crates were bobbing and weaving in the stagnate water, and she pulled herself up on some stacks that were pressed tightly against the top of the chamber.

There was a lever wedged in between the wall and a wooden box here, and she managed to get a grip on it and tug down until it unlatched.

The stack she was standing on started to tremble, and as the sound of rushing water filled her ears it all started to descend, toppling and falling dangerously around her.

"I've opened a door somewhere else, and it's making the water drain…"

She crouched down to avoid any tumbling crates, and only once everything settled and was quiet again would she stand.

The constant sound of dripping water now accompanied the occasional groaning of the ocean weight bearing down on the sunken ship, creating a vast atmosphere of detachment from the world above.

It gave her chills that seared her skin like fire. She took some bandage and cleaned up her hand, taping up the wound with a small piece of gauze.

"C'mon, lets get moving…"

She hopped down to the metal ground below, the texture of the rusted steel now wet and slimy, cold between her bare toes. She spotted a high ledge in the corner, boxes stacked in front of it now that the water had been drained.

She maneuvered up them carefully, already seeing another large room in the area below, as well as something else. A gaping hole, the room even further below shrouded in shadows.

"It doesn't help that everything is upside down…"

That must have been what drained the water, still seeing several small, steady streams pouring through the cracks. She lowered herself and removed another flare, striking it up as she neared the opening.

Just as she suspected, water was settled at the bottom of the chamber, reeking horribly of ocean life and salt. She spied several wooden pillars in here, each one nestled closely to the wall and looking steady.

To her left was a railing, maybe a steel banister of some sort at one time, going the length of the 'ceiling'. At the far end of the room, where the banister stopped, there was another doorway.

She knelt down and stuck the flare in her mouth, careful to point the flaming end away from her face, and gripped the edge of the opening. She spun around and lowered herself down gently, letting go as soon as her arms were fully extended.

She landed on top of yet another stack of unsteady crates, and immediately began to waver and weave with unbalance. She looked at the steel banister, sucking in a short breath before rearing back-

-and she jumped just as the stack tumbled to the ground far below, grabbing on to the steel with only one shaky hand. She swung for a few moments, biting down hard on the flare unconsciously before reaching up with her second hand to grab hold.

She started monkey swinging horizontally down the steel framework, her legs kicking in the air high above the dark, watery chamber below. At the end she had to gain some momentum to her swing before letting go and landing in the doorway.

She hadn't thought about it too much, but she realized that she was completely alone. She didn't expect a barrage of goons down here of course, but coming close to now Bartoli's crew should be sending backup for the sub once they realized they couldn't contact it.

"It's rather peaceful actually… My kind of raiding…"

Her flare died out, and she quickly got another one as she was plunged into total darkness. The corridor turned sharply left, leading to a very peculiar sight. Fire. There were several florescent light fixtures going the length of the 'floor', the middle one strangely ablaze.

"Electrical malfunction?"

She hopped over the first one with ease, now coming up to the hard part. There was no way to squeeze around it, and the flames jumped up past her head every so often, so leaping over it was out as well. She spied some pipes overhead, and popped an idea.

She jumped as high as she could, grabbing on to the freezing cold pipes.

She wedged her feet on either side of the wall, using the holes and cracks as footholds to stay above the flames. She scooted forward as much as she could, then propelled herself from the corridor over and safely away from the flames.

Now entering into steel corridors, there was a central hallway and a passageway off to the left. She kept moving forward, placing each foot precisely in front of the other to keep a steady, quiet pace. The hallway continued on, however, for a good six or seven feet the floor had just broken away.

It extended down all the way, everything demolished and singed, allowing her a view of the ocean water below.

"Torpedo damage from the monks no doubt…"

She tightened up her backpack and boot laces and jumped vertically into the hole, falling smoothly into the dark recess of cold ocean water. Her flare had started to sputter, slowly starting to die out as she entered the water.

She hovered for a moment, blinking to try and clear her vision a little, and also let them adjust to the darkness.

Finally she reached back and grabbed another flare, feeling only three left in this pack, and saw that she was now underneath the sunken vessel.

"Holy sh-"

A movement caught her attention overhead, and she extended the arm with the flare and jerked her head up.

"What was th-"

Something huge suddenly nudged into her hip, and she spun around wildly, fumbling to get the harpoon gun from her backpack. Her mind began to race quickly, finally getting the weapon out and ready.

"Oh no the shark!"

She saw the monstrous marine animal circling several feet above, slowly descending upon her. She gripped the harpoon pistol with both hands, firing off two of the small, razor sharp harpoons simultaneously.

Both connected, sticking from the massive side of the Great White, piercing the teal colored skin. Blood instantly started pouring from the wounds, and for the time being it was distracted by the pain cause from the deadly spears.

There was another opening further down, and she started swimming toward it while she could without being pursued. It led to a narrow passageway that went up, a ladder going up the wall as well.

She was practically pulling her way through the narrow tunnel rather than swimming, and finally surfaced the tiny pool in a pitch-black chamber. She pulled herself out, uncontrollably shaking and striking another flare.

From what the light illuminated, she could make out the she was in some sort of machine room, with the door high up close to the 'ceiling'.

She spotted a rusted metal ladder, complete with a chain link protector running the length of it, going up to another dark alcove. She hurried over to it, her foot colliding with something as she neared the ladder.

She jumped back, jerking the flare down toward the ground; a pistol in the other hand. She relaxed after realizing what it was, and holstered the Browning.

"A gun magazine…"

She knelt to examine it, whispering "What are you doing down here…?"

It was already spent, no bullets in the clip, and she tossed it back to the ground. It didn't look decades old, so she instantly became more aware of her surroundings. Guards might have made it in from a different side, much to her surprise.

The boat had been destroyed by live fire, so there were probably more broken areas to enter the ship by without her noticing. She climbed up and found that the alcove came in close, and there was only a single lever to pull.

Something exploded from the machine room, and she felt the entire hull of the ship rumble.

"That could not have been good."

She turned and saw that somehow trapdoors had opened from above the lowest chamber, depositing a mountainous pile of rock and dirt completely everywhere.

She saw that now the ledge high on the wall could now be reached, but her interest had changed to the area beyond the trapdoors, now clear of the rubble apparently.

She dreaded, and even reconsidered trying to free climb the unsteady pile of dirt, but couldn't see any other way to go. She made her way back down the ladder and to the base of the rock pile, looking up at it with narrow eyes.

"I can do this."

Since the wetsuit she was wearing came up to her knees, she decided to take her boots from her backpack and but them back on her feet for this climb, and keep them on for the rest of this endeavor.

She started up the least sloped part, getting several good footholds to pull herself up with.

Pieces of it chipped away and rolled back down to the ground, a grim reminder that gravity worked on her just the same way as it did the rock. She had mountain climbed before, and this was similar, but never nothing this unstable and ready to collapse.

She reached up, grabbing on to a long piece of steel that had become twisted and was jutting from the ceiling. She kicked up some dust, trying to get her feet higher while pulling forward on the steel pipe. A chunk of rock cracked-

-and broke away, suddenly causing a massive landslide. She reached with her other hand and gripped the steel pipe with all her strength; a tremendous cloud of rock and dirt billowing up as the pile finally crumbled.

She felt the debris knocking at her feet, not far from sucking her in and sweeping her away.

The roar grew quickly from a rumble to a deafening boom, stopping almost as soon as it had started. As things began to settle she noticed that a large side portion of the pile had slid down covered the ground area below, the slight cave in blocking all exits now aside from the trapdoors above. She started kicking, trying to get her body to start swinging forward.

Finally, after some effort, she had enough momentum to vault through the air and land on a ledge of what was still remaining of the pile. It chipped away some more, and threatened to buckle again.

She jumped up and grabbed a lip on one of the trapdoors, using cracks in the wall to leverage her feet and climb her way up to the room above.

"See, piece of cake…"

There was a slope here, and she found herself at the edge of a staircase, only the few steps that remained were hovering right above here.

The ground below was filled with water, and that's when she noticed several bubbles surface from the deep.

She had the pistols drawn in an instant, and crouched as two men in red wetsuits and clad with goggles and air tanks, came to the surface of the water.

"He's already sending men inside…"

The frogmen started paddling toward the ledge she was on, and she realized they were gonna find her either way.

"Better not give them the advantage of land."

She stood up and aimed the guns at the two thugs, waiting for any immediate or quick reactions. They stared at her a moment, observing as well-

-then one made a quick grab for a pistol strapped to his thigh, and she open fired, killing both men simultaneously. They floated steadily at the top, drifting toward a dark corner.

"Might as well see where they came from. It's time for some danger I suppose."

She chuckled out loud, the sound of a human voice startling her even though it was her own.

"Like I haven't been through enough already." She whispered, and then dived into the water.


	10. Chapter 8: Wreck of the Maria Doria

Chapter 8:

Wreck of the_** Maria Doria**_

_**The first narrow tunnel she swam through had been clear of everything, the winding path **easy to negotiate._

It opened into a large, water-filled chamber, nothing in sight allowing her to really discern what exactly this room was. Directly across from her was another passageway, and she sucked in a deep breath and started swimming through it, seeing an opening already up ahead.

"_This water feels colder…"_

She came out wiping her eyes, already spotting a broad shaft. She hoisted herself up and inched closer to the jagged slope, seeing the floor below looked cracked and unstable.

The drop down to it wasn't very far, so she went ahead and hopped down-

-and her weight broke through the damaged section completely, and she continued to fall several more feet before landing on hard ground with a dull _thud_.

Sharp pain seared through her left ankle, and she felt it shoot up to her buttocks. She lay motionless for a moment, letting the spots and stars clear from her vision before clumsily rolling over; debris falling and sliding from her body.

She was staring up into the opening she had fallen through, and spotted an upside-down diving board attached to the edge of the opening.

She glanced around, seeing some remnants of a railing that might have went all around at one time, and that's when it hit her.

"_I just fell through the bottom of a pool…?"_

She lit a flare and kept looking around, seeing on the left and right side there were about a dozen marble pillars still standing, a row of decrepit changing rooms were in the dark corner.

She felt bubbles of excitement in her abdomen, and she used a piece of fallen floor tile to help herself into a standing position. A pool, once-lush décor, elegant architecture, and marble interior. It all pulled this ship together.

"_My my, the S. S. Maria Doria, all the way down here under the ocean. Now, I need you to show me what you're hiding…"_

Her ankle wasn't broken, as she apparently knew as she wiggled all ten toes without relatively much pain. She stepped down on it, and found that the dull throb was manageable.

She spotted a corridor leading out of the poolroom, and she began making her way over toward it, unaware of the weapon-wielding thug waiting behind the wall.

He watched her walk in, taking in the contours of her body and arsenal, and as she approached a fancy, overturned seat he pumped the shotgun.

"Lay down on it." He commanded.

She froze, turning her head slightly. The seat, deteriorated now, had been lush at one time, and was long enough to sleep on.

She said casually "Even if I do what you say you'll still try and kill me."

He crept toward her, his hand moving toward the buckle of his belt.

"Oh, I'm not gonna kill ya, pretty thing…" He said licking his lips. She heard the ringing of his metal buckle and the zip of his jeans. She kicked back, her foot connecting with his crotch.

He let out a gasping breath as he fell to his knees, clutching his midsection in apparent agonizing pain.

"Nice try, but your really not my type," she removed a pistol, placing it firmly to his temple, "and your also looking for the same thing I am."

"So, you're the Croft woman. Give it up, you have no business here."

She shook her head, and before she responded he suddenly lunged forward, tackling her to the ground. She stiffed her palm and jammed it right into his cheek, causing his eyes to immediately flutter.

She kicked him off, stumbling back through a door and into a corridor as he jumped at her again, this time she jumped back to avoid his blow. The scenery as they both staggered into a giant, open dining room.

The walls were done in faded yellow wallpaper, the floor overhead yellow and black square tiles. Chairs were scattered about, along with some of the small, matching rectangular tables.

Most of them, however, were still attached to the floor and hanging upside down. She spotted the ocean outside of two rows of beautiful patio windows, each one still elegant aside from the murky stains and years of age.

She fired several shots, each one missing but causing the man to jump back in surprise.

"You intend to kill me?" He barked.

She fired again, ducking behind one of the fallen tables.

"Are we dancing?!" She screamed back, reloading and drawing the other pistol.

She heard the explosion of a shotgun blast, and watched as the corner of her makeshift shield was obliterated. She waited until she heard him reload and stuck both of her pistols over the edge and opened fire blindly.

She was rewarded with several cries of pain as shots connected. She stood up-

-and dived away as he turned the shotgun to automatic and let loose an array of hot lead that destroyed the table. She rolled back up to her feet, stumbling backward, and crashed into a wooden pillar that was still standing.

Dust and rock particles came crashing down, and she heard it groan and threaten to tumble. He jumped at her one last time, and she grabbed the shoulders of his shirt, throwing him violently to the wall behind her.

He accidentally fired a blind shot, the shotgun round exploding one of the windows.

Everything after that seemed to go in slow motion. The pressure finally gave way and soon all the windows were cracking and breaking, hundreds of thousands of gallons of ocean water suddenly very quickly billowing in.

She heard the roar of water racing at her from behind, her legs and knees pumping as fast as she could as she sprinted toward the door down the corridor.

"_One stumble or fall and it's all over."_

Her mind kicked back into high gear and she dived through the gap, kicking the twisted metal door closed, scrambling to get up and spin the wheel to lock it.

She heard the water hit with force that shook the walls, but soon everything settled and was silent again. She sat on the ground breathing for a moment, staring at the dining room door in disbelief.

Just one second later and she would have been swimming with the fishes-literally. There was another passageway adjacent to the dining hall, and she took it after quick deliberation of that or exploring the poolroom some more.

The corridor terminated abruptly and it led to a short hop down. She negotiated her way over and stepped into a central ballroom, both extravagant and mysterious in design.

The Grand Staircase was way up above, the marble banister and golden goddess statues at the foot of the steps still erect, although upside-down.

The 'floor' changed to a nice blue, hexagonal tile that repeated in a nice pattern, a lovely ceiling at one time. The 'ceiling' was brown carpeted along the first and second floors, a large square section in the middle black-and-white argyle tile.

White pillars holding up the second story structures were chipped in some places and even partially broken, large chunks of 'ceiling' scattered about the 'floor'.

Chandeliers that lined the walls were now flipped, some still holding white candlesticks and others hanging loosely from bad screws and damaged wood paneling.

At the top of the staircase there was a massive painting, and due to water damage and age it was hard to tell what it might have been long ago. The lonely dripping of water could be heard every so often, an echo that run throughout the air.

"_Old, decrepit, and in ruins. I'm a lucky girl."_

To her, the place looked magnificent despite the obvious dangers and structural integrity.

She moved slowly across the stretch of the ballroom, her boots echoing as she crossed and avoided the debris piled in the center of the room.

Footsteps near the staircase caused her to whirl around, pistols raised, and she spotted three thugs rushing out from a dark corner. Two of them were armed with steel bats and the third was equipped with a machine gun.

She started squeezing the triggers, both weapons jumping lightly in her hands, and the first two guys retreated.

The machine gun guard jumped down, firing from a crouched position once he landed. She ducked behind a table and chair combo that had tumble and broken as it fell far from the floor above, keeping one gun aimed and firing at the trigger happy thug.

She heard the dry click of his empty chamber, and there was a tense moment of silence. She heard the _ting_ of a magazine hit the ground, and she jumped up-

-only to dive back to the ground as the man had a black Colt .45 raised and firing.

"I'm glad Lara?! That would have been too easy!"

She picked up a good fist sized piece of rock and lugged it at him, splattering blood as it actually killed him, colliding into the center of his forehead. He dropped cold, and she stood up firing at the pillar below the second floor balcony the other two thugs were standing on.

It started to rumble, and in a cloud of dust the section broke away into a heap down on the ground, burying the two men alive. She rolled her shoulders, reloaded the pistols and holstered them, then took a deep breath.

"_Never gets any easier…"_

There was a raised ledge to her right that she realized she could use to get up to the second floor, and she did so after a grueling high jump up to the edge.

She finally got her a good grip and pulled up, now making her way around to the door she spotted up high on the wall. She had to use several cracks as handholds to hoist herself up into the alcove, but she did so after tightening her gloves and the straps of the holsters.

The corridor came in narrow to a short hallway, lined with four doors. One had a lock beside it, one had a wheel attached to the front, the third was already open and the fourth was demolished, preventing any access whatsoever.

The opened door was sadly empty, coming up with nothing but a skeleton of a long ago seaman. She spun the wheel on the other door, and it opened to a wide hallway; a striking difference from the claustrophobic corridors.

She started a steady jog forward, spying a lush entrance to another room at the end-

-and the floor started to shake, suddenly cracking and breaking as soon as she ran across it. She jumped forward and away from the death plunge-

-only to feel the vibrations of something heavy rolling on the steel interior. She looked to the right and saw several huge metal containers rolling from a raised position in the corner, something surely to kill her if she continued to lie on the ground.

She jumped up and scrambled out of harms way, the barrels crashing into the far wall. Her knees had gotten skinned up, but considering death and becoming part of the decorations or bruised knees and life, she felt lucky.

She exhaled loudly, standing up and continuing into the restroom. It was the males, stalls lining the walls turned precariously above her head.

She lit flare and searched through what she could reach, coming up with a rusted key that had been stuck in a warped, overturned wooden drawer.

She kept it tucked into a slit near her waist; something the wetsuit had come equipped with, and backtracked back to the hallway, minding the gap over deep abysmal blackness.

The rusty key fit in the lock, and she was taken by surprised when the door suddenly flung open and water spilled out from the other side. It subsided eventually, letting her to jump into the water filled corridor.

The swim twisted through a wooden hallway; several small portraits of old fashioned, beautiful women floating near broken glass windows.

She came up through a nature made hole, the hallway spacious and simple. There was a circular portrait next to a candelabrum jutting from the wall, both turned upside down.

There were several puddles of water she trudged though, splashing as she made her way across and through another pool, this time the ship interior fading away; replaced by rocky caverns.

A huge chunk of metal was in the distance, and she saw it had been a mechanism for the vessel at one time.

"_The boat has broken into pieces…"_

She started pushing her arms and legs harder, feeling fresh adrenaline pumping through her veins. It had to lead somewhere.

"Maybe the Seraph is really down here after all…"


	11. Chapter 9: Living Quarters

Chapter 9:

Living Quarters

_**There was a kelp and seaweed barrier up ahead, and she clawed her way through to** _

_continue swimming through the murky underwater cavern. _

Another piece of the hull was visible ahead, as well as a sealed trap door. A current was rushing at her also, which was probably what was sealing the door. She glanced around, seeing a switch entangled in some green coral.

She used her foot to break it away, grasping the lever after clearing it off and pulling down. She felt the water current change and the door behind her swung open. She moved up and through it, seeing that she was back to the ship and some dry land.

She hoisted herself up, into some sort of docking chamber. It was long and narrow, with raised sections of metal lining the floor.

There was a single doorway at the end, and there was nothing of interest around the floor or near the impossibly high ceiling. She started moving horizontally next to the wall, stepping up to get across the metal fixtures. As she neared the last one a deckhand, holding a crowbar came rushing out of the adjacent room.

He immediately swung at her, and she had to duck with pristine reaction time to avoid the blow.

She removed a pistol while she was down, and had it aimed forward as she stood back up; the barrel pressed firmly to his forehead. He went to grab the gun, possibly to snatch it and shoot her with it, and she pulled the trigger.

The resounding echo seemed lonely somehow, but she holstered the weapon and continued on. The next room was also huge, complete with pistons and mechanical gearshifts along the floor of the interior.

She couldn't think of anything useful for them, and making the rusty maintenance move might even be a dangerous idea. She looked up and spotted an opening on one end, and as she was examining it she saw a quick burst of light followed by the high pitched _ping_ of a bullet ricocheting off the metal walls.

"_Sniper!"_

She dived to a crevice next to one of the giant pistons, drawing both weapons.

"_Shooting back is futile. Must find some other way through here…"_

She peeked around to the other side of the room and saw at the end there was a switch, the way it was set in the wall made it impossible to access without a little help. Obviously frustrated that he'd missed the first shot, the sniper began firing repeatedly until she heard the dry click of an empty cartridge.

She seized this moment and sprinted down the metal corridor, hearing a grumbled of aggravation from the sniper above. She fired back blindly, hoping to buy several more precious seconds, before running and jumping into an opening at the far end.

Another high caliber bullet sparked at the ground inches from her feet, and she pulled herself through at the last minute.

She called out "You'll have to do better than that!"

A switch was in this alcove and she pulled it, black smoke billowing from the pistons as they started to activate and move. They shifted positions but jutted to a shaky stop as the rust prevented any more movement.

A crate was now placed close to a piston, which had moved down several feet. This created a nice starting point for her to run up and get access to the tops of the machinery.

After a short inhalation she darted across and jumped up to the crate, maneuvering the piston with angelic movement.

Once on top she drew her pistols and with a look of fierce determination open fired, running and jumping along the pistons all the while firing away. With no where to back up to the bullets penetrated the sniper, even going through the vest strapped to his chest. In his dying breath he pulled a second switch next to him, the pistons moving with renewed strength. She stumbled-

-grabbing the edge and dropping both weapons. Thankfully this one was descending smoothly to the ground, and stopped as something stuck the craftsmanship again.

She retrieved the pistols and again moved atop the piston, now jumping to the switch high up on the wall. Her weight caused it to break off as it slid down, rushing water suddenly filling the room from above, thankfully enough to stop any damage to her body from the high fall.

She was wishing for an air pocket to remain, but her hopes were faltered as the water filled all the way to the top. She took the only option she could figure and swam through the new opening into another dark cave.

She lit a flare and saw it extended to her left. She swam with steady stroke to conserve energy, following the rusty pieces of metal in hopes for more sections of the _Maria Doria._ After clawing up through a jagged opening in the rock, a gigantic remnant of the ship caught the glow of the flare.

Her heart fluttered instantly, and she swam toward a piece that she could fit underneath. There was a trap door, almost obscured by granite and undersea vegetation.

She came through into more familiar territory, with metal walls and thankfully with everything right side up, blue wooden floors. She followed this initial corridor slowly; lighting a second flare as it turned into a more comfortable looking hallway.

A candlestick was jutting from the wall next to a faded portrait of a lady wearing expensive clothing and jewelry. She inched her way down to a dead end, with two jammed doors.

She was turning to go back when the wooden floor suddenly cracked and splintered, and she went careening down to a floor below. She landed roughly but without any effort on her knees into another corridor, this one more lavish. A doorway was to her right, and she looked in to see a once elegant living den.

The furniture and table was strewn about, but she saw the nice rock fireplace was still intact.

"_This wasn't just a cruise, people could live in these quarters…"_

She moved along the wall, looking in to see beds and nightstand and in one even an old fashioned kitchen stocked even though it was in complete disarray. Before continuing further down she stopped and checked a final bedroom, seeing a journal open on an overturned chair.

The writing was faded and almost unreadable due to water damage, but she was able to make out an entry or two.

_I was finally able to get the children away from that man and hopefully this beautiful boat can really take us across the ocean to the new land. We were given plenty of freedoms, just ordered to obey the rules and never enter the basement. One of the kids was found messing around in the kitchen, somehow revealing a secret entrance to cargo holds below. We were ordered to get off at the next stop._

_Last night I overheard Bartoli speaking with the captain, saying that 'they' were coming for something called the Seraph. He seemed to get very upset and commanded that everyone be let off in lifeboats at once. I knew that the captain was together with that cult Bartoli came with._

_I watched 'them' come and sink the beautiful ship. They blew it up with huge metal bullets, and I watched it slip under the ocean to rest with Poseidon for the rest of time. I hope they don't get the Seraph back, Bartoli runs a group of dangerous and devious men. I know the Fiama Nera plan on using it to find the sacred Dagger of Xian, and not even God himself could control the powers it holds within._

She was deep in though, the diary transporting her back to the time the ship had been destroyed. She didn't hear the thug sneaking up behind her, and was startled when he open fired.

She dropped the parchment and ducked, diving to the left. The bullets continued to fleck away at the moist wood, and she waited until she heard him reload before stepping out with a pistol raised in both hands.

Instead of dropping his weapon he became more frantic and trying to reload, and she returned the fire. He growled in frustration and ducked off into the kitchen, throwing the machine gun through the doorway.

He came back out holding a black magnum, and she again took cover behind the wooden outcrop. The powerful rounds were blowing the frame to pieces, and she saw a board break lose and land close to her foot, the flank holding the doorway up. She kicked it and it instantly exploded in a cloud of dust, debris quickly piling up.

She stood up and took off running down the adjacent corridor, leaping over a pit of glass seconds before taking the deadly plunge.

She landed on a slab of the floor that had splintered and been violently obliterated, something from when it sank no doubt. She slid down the jagged wooden slope and almost head first through two panes of castle style windows.

She peered out, seeing nothing but an occasional fish and the blackness of the undersea. Her eyes had already adjusted to the overwhelming darkness, and she found herself wandering the remains in almost pitch dark instead of striking a flare around every hallway.

Looking out the window made her nervous, so she quickly moved toward the bold looking entranceway at the end, complete with giant portraits on either side. The gray tile changed to a rugged beige colored carpet, horribly damaged from water.

Her feet _squished_ as she trudged across, spotting an old record player next to an overturned table, several plush looking chairs and sofas littered the rubble-covered ground.

Going along both sides of the massive cocktail room was a staircase, the one on the left completely destroyed. There was a massive pool of water underneath the broken part, and she decided to take a peek in there before exploring upstairs.

A flare was needed after she dipped in, and she saw the cave extended deep into the shelf of an underwater mountain ridge. She kicked her legs as hard as possible, realizing the trip back would be dangerously long if she ventured any further. Finally, near the floor of the ocean, she spotted a treasure chest attached firmly to the full body of a human skeleton.

"_Could it be…"_

She hovered above it and dropped her flare, watching the glowing stick sputter as it neared the ghastly sight. She lit another one quickly and swam down to the chest, soft and rotten after years of harsh Mother Nature.

It took several swift kicks and a splinter or two in her bare feet before the chest broke open and the skeleton released his life-long death grip on the loot. A bottle soared out, and she had to react with cat-like reflexes to grab it before it float way up and beyond her lung capacity.

Intrigued, although not fully satisfied without the Seraph, she started the journey back to the _Maria Doria._ She wasn't feeling empty handed, and was eager to look at the yellow piece of paper inside and was taken completely off guard when something whipped her back, _hard._

She had no way of getting the harpoon pistol, so she put away the bottle and drew her pistols, turning to expect the Great White again, but was suddenly terrified by this more fearsome, _bigger_ threat.

There was an enormous crevice in the giant rock side, and receding into the darkness of it she could make out two holes of a snout and a single golden eye the size of car tire. A legendary giant Eel.

She was suspended in a moment of disbelief, and couldn't avoid the tail as it whipped around once more and this time wrapped tightly around her midsection.

She felt any residual air in her lungs get squeezed out in an eruption of air bubbles, and it pulled her close to its oversized maw.

It opened wide, and she spotted two rows of top and bottom teeth, each one black and bigger than her entire body. She drew the pistols after some effort, hoping and praying the shot would still be effective in the water.

She open fired two at a time, the bullets leaving spiral bubble trails as they went slowly but still surly enough. One reflected off the tough leathery skin of its nose, but the second pierced the eye in a miraculous way.

It roared, sending a cascade of water rushing at her, causing her lungs to feel compressed. She was getting blurry vision, and knew her body was quenching oxygen.

"_This must be the worse I've ever had…"_

She continued to fire, writing and squirming to try and loosen from the tails death grip. The giant eel again started to bring Lara to his mouth, and she did the last thing she could think of and began firing into the creatures mouth, the bullets having seemingly no effect.

She closed her eyes, wishing the death to be painless when she felt the grip on her stomach loosen, and she opened her eyes to see the Great White gnawing at the tail several feet away.

In a bizarre twist of fate, her old nemesis caused the eel to released her and turn its attention toward the new nuisance, and Lara quickly took the opportunity to begin the treacherous swim back to the sunken ship, silently thanking the shark as she moved on.

On the verge of drowning, she broke through the murky surface as soon as she inhaled unconsciously. The dark smoking lounge was still just as quiet, and she couldn't help but chuckle as she was once again safe from danger and back on to her raiding.

"_That…was too close…"_

She struck another flare and pulled out the bottled message, shattering the glass and unrolling it. Although old, she could clearly see a poorly hand drawn map of the ships exterior and inner deck. Someone in the middle, whether it is on the ground or somewhere in the first or second floor, was a sloppy drawing of an angel with her wings stretched open wide.

The Seraph. A note was also written at the bottom.

I locked the Seraph in the storage room (next to the stern room) and have successfully hidden the key. Now if those rotten monks try to get and retrieve the precious relic then they'll have to go through our puzzles.

And locking it away will give Marco time to get his ass down here and take the Seraph for himself and finish this damn thing in China once and for all.

"_This could come in handy…"_

She tucked the map into her backpack and headed now up the remaining staircase located in here and strolled into a simple waiting room, line with soft blue marble pillars and once lovely furniture.

She heard footsteps, and looked over the balcony back to the first floor. Two thugs came walking in, on topless and wearing jeans and the other more warmly dressed with a jacket and sweat dark khakis.

Both were armed with sub machine guns and chatting about a previous drunken party, oblivious to the eyes watching them both silently.

"Yeah tell me about it."

"Seriously, we're hooking up with them again…"

"I'll believe it when I see it…"

Lara crept around the balcony banister, spotting several weak spots above another section of the railing. As she stood up to shoot it one of the guards spotted her, and they quickly retreated in defense.

She fired one pistol at them while the other chipped away the old tile of the balcony, and she gave it several kicks before crouching in the doorway, leading to another dark corridor.

Both men came running back in shooting the guns, stopping abruptly when they didn't spot her.

The closest thug ran underneath the damaged balcony, and she smiled as the rest of the structure collapsed and pinned the man to his death in a sudden _snap!_ After a cry of anger the second man ran up the steps and leaped over the broken section, knocking Lara to the ground.

He tried to deliver a fatal stomp of his boot, but she managed to roll into a solid back flip up on to her feet again with pistols in hand.

He kicked forward, almost swiping her weapons, and she spun around in an elegant spin kick, catching his ribs hard. He fell to his knees and she threw her knee up, busting his nose wide open.

Blood poured like a faucet down his face, dripping everywhere on the floor and staining his uniform dark red. He grasped out feebly, and she fired once in his head to end the pursuit.

There was thin ring on his belt loop, hooked on it was a brass key. It was long and curvy, something from the ship no doubt. She knelt down and pulled it off, seeing the word Theatre etched on the wide handle.

"_I think this can go into my key collection…"_

She placed it in her inventory and continued down the corridor, avoiding fallen pieces of ceiling and jagged shards of window glass, each room she passed in the same ruined condition.

At the end she saw free-swinging double doors and passed through, lighting a flare as the room around her took shape in the shadows. It was a grand, extravagant theater, still looking prestigious even after all these years.

The screen was ripped beyond repair, and nothing of interest came to her sharp eyes.

"_Where to use this key…"_

She moved up through the middle row of the deteriorated seats, touching each one slightly as she passed to get a feel and texture of the place. At the top of the ramp there was another set of double doors, these locked.

She removed the key, inserting it into the ancient lock. Sure enough it slid smoothly, and both doors opened with resounding creaks.

There was a slight bluish light here, and the floor changed to wood. It resembled something on a back deck or porch. She saw cave overhead, and kept moving into the increasingly vast area. She looked around in awe.

"_Incredible…"_


	12. Chapter 10: The Deck

**Chapter 10:**

**The Deck**

_**The trickling of water was omnipotent as she inched slowly across the splintered wood **__floor. There was a balcony overhead just several feet that stopped and allowed sight to the impossibly high cavern ceiling. _

She didn't notice that her mouth was slightly agape as she walked with her head tilted up and her attention off the current task at hand. She finally did look down when her foot slipped on cold, wet marble. It was another pool; this one thankfully turned in the right direction. It was nice at one time, the intricate designs now faded and covered in mold. She brushed off the almost broken ankle and continued around the deteriorated pool-

-and had to jump in lightning speed, thankfully twisting into a successful back flip before being scorched by a jet of fire. Her mind started racing, her eyes following the trail back to a thug clad in fireproof gear and equipped with a high powered flamethrower.

"_Those are weapons only Bartoli could finance…"_

She drew the pistols and instantly returned fire, causing the man to slightly retreat. From around another corridor to the main deck she spotted a second armed man, this one not geared up but still armed with another flamethrower. She continued to back up, giving each man a stream of hot lead.

The fire came again, this time hotter and closer as each one shot simultaneously. She ducked down, almost going to her side, and shot out both henchmen's legs. The bullets obliterated the bones and punctured the flesh, blood pooling around both of their feet. Lara jumped up, blowing the smoking barrels of her weapons before holstering them.

"You boys take a lot before you surrender, I'm impressed." She was able to smile, stepping cautiously closer. They were struggling, clutching their limbs in pain and ignoring the weapons. She found it amusing that they couldn't even beg; only feebly try to get away. She smiled, and drew one of the pistols. They stopped immediately.

"So, I already know at least one of you is going to tell me why you are down here."

Before any one could answer she fired a single shot into the head of the gearless thug.

"…Because now there only _is_ one of you to tell me."

She aimed the gun at him, and he swallowed loud enough for her to hear the faint echo of it. She suppressed a chuckle, and took several steady strides toward him. She kicked the flamethrower over the edge of the crumpled wooden banister around the deck, the heavy piece of weaponry hitting with a loud clang after several tense seconds.

"Oh don't play dumb Miss Croft. You already know the item down here is the missing piece in retrieving the dagger. The Seraph, it's sacred in opening the monastery where the monks hold the Talion deep within their catacombs."

Feeling no satisfaction, she raised both of her already drawn weapons, replying

"How much are you willing to tell me before you die down here? Is the Talion the handle to that door in China?"

His dedication to the cult allowed him to deliver a cold, heartless cackle.

"I say no more. Your intentions with the dagger are far different from ours. I can _see _it, in your eyes…"

Without warning he heaved himself over the edge where she had kicked his weapon, and after several seconds she heard him hit with a crack and loud thud. She rushed over and looked down, spying his crumpled corpse way below. He was pressed against the side of the boat, and out away from the piece she was on now she spotted another smaller, rusted piece.

"_The hull no doubt, containing the stern room I bet…"_

She found a new pack of flares and some nine millimeter rounds the guard had apparently dropped before falling to his doom, and she took them greedily before moving closer again to the edge. She spotted a moderately deep pool of water, and she lowered herself over the edge carefully and shimmied over toward it. After positioning herself she dropped and the boat as well as the cave went rushing upward, the free fall causing her to squeeze her eyes closed.

Stabbing cold was the first sensation that surrounded her body, and she propelled herself up and above the surface of the freezing water. She wiped her eyes and paddled over to the edge of the pool and climbed out, shaking herself of the chilly fluid. Some soaked wooden crates were in front of her and she decided to explore them first, hoisting herself up on the soggy packages.

They were unmarked, but apparently they had been part of the cargo _Maria Doria_ had been carrying when it was sunk decades ago. Which meant that she could possibly be close to the relic she seeked already. While it was apparently only a part of several pieces required to obtain the Dagger of Xian, she would still feel at least one step closer if she could snatch the Seraph before any of Bartoli's men got it first.

She traversed across the top carefully, lowering herself down to a rusted and sealed door almost concealed by shadows. She struck another flare, removing the Stern key, and she inserted it into the corresponding lock before twisting it. The door swung open slowly, and at first she feared that maybe a swift kick or a tug or two would be in order. But it opened enough, and she squeezed on through-

-when a colony of rats exploded from an unseen cubby hole. She jumped back, dropping her flare as she drew the pistols.

"_Oh bugger…!"_

She squeezed the triggers, most of the shots destroying the frail bodies of the rats in small gore pools. A couple went stray, and ricocheted through the tight metal walls of the corridor.

She ducked to the side of the opening, waiting until all the high pitched _ding_ sounds had finally stopped. She peeked around for one more check, making sure bullets nor rats were coming her way, and she continued on down the newly opened passageway. At the end another flare was needed, and she spotted a lever jutting out from the rusted metal.

She propped her heel on the wall and gripped it with both hands, sticking the flare in her mouth beforehand, and she pulled down hard. Several mechanical clicks sounded, and another door down the darkened corridor to her right opened. She had to duck a little, and then the chamber rose up high and narrow.

She lifted the flare, looking around at the desolate remains; flaking pieces of the shattered hull floating down gracefully, only adding to the isolated peacefulness she felt as she finished the corridor. She had to crouch down again, this time just a ladder in front of her.

"_And a high one, too."_

She placed the flare back in her mouth and ascended the structure as quickly as possible, several groans from the metal persisting her to go ever so faster. At the top, her foot broke a rung, and for a moment she felt like she was falling.

She grabbed the handle, but it too snapped in a single bone chilling _crunch!_ She fell to her stomach, both legs slipping from the top of the platform, and she grabbed with two hands the last remaining handle. It held, thankfully, and she was able to pull herself back up after several seconds of struggling.

Another close call.

There was light at the top, and after ducking another low doorway, she stopped in a transfixed state. Only her eyes moved, scanning the sheer scale of the underwater tomb for _Maria Doria_. Somehow this second piece of the ship had crashed at just the right angle in the mountainside, the bottom of the ocean hiding caves and caverns that she could now explore thanks to the luxury liners destruction.

As if this part of the underwater mountain was hollow, sunlight was streaming in from the impossibly high top. It wasn't much, but it was a welcome change from the previous dark areas and now her eyes took it in by soaking up all the details.

There was a raft suspended above a giant pond of water, a tunnel extending right below it underneath the murky water. A large portion of the deck was now easily explored from this new vantage point she had found, and now she was worried that goons were floating around.

She crouched down and hopped down from the balcony on to the first floor. She hit with a thud, but eliminated as much of the sound as possible, and then rolled behind a relative thick wooden pillar. She held her breath for a second, listening for the sound of human activity.

_There was nothing._

An occasional squeal of a vampire bat. The steady dripping of water somewhere in the distance. Slight moans from the rotted wood of the deck floor. The crumble of rocks breaking from erosion on the cavern walls.

But nothing human…

She stood back up, brushing off her knee-

-and the pillar she was leaning on suddenly collapsed, the base snapping from the rest in splintering cracks. The balcony was soon to follow, and she sprinted away from the death trap. She dived into a roll, more of the pillars breaking and crumbling into heaps.

She felt the air of the force, landing on her stomach and covering her face to avoid the splintering pieces of wood and rock flying at her. She looked back, the damage not as bad as it had felt, and she once again stood. The quiet was more deafening than before, and for the time being she was still convinced that she was alone.

"_Back to raiding…"_

She maneuvered down the rest of the deck carefully, a swimming pool coming in to view. It was surrounded by what was once a beautiful patio, with overturned white lattice lawn chairs strewn about. One was even floating in the pool, making for some amusement for the resident fish that now lived in the stagnant liquid.

There were some circular white and red colored life preservers hanging from the walls, most now deflated and covered in dirt. There were some doors, but most were ruined beyond opening, probably after the crash; only a small inconvenience for the clever explorer. She went along until the balcony ended, the rock wall coming in close and preventing further progress.

She once again turned to the water, dreading the inevitable dip she would have to take to explore the underwater tunnel. She let out a small sigh, and then tightened the bands on her braid before adjusting the laces of her boots.

"_No time like the present…"_

She hoisted herself up on the balcony and stood for only a moment, crouching and then launching herself forward into an impressive swan dive. She was already anticipating the cold sting the water would bring, and even the old smell that would cling to her figure, but she dove in headfirst anyway.

Ever alert, she propelled her body down instead of surfacing, gripping slick rock to pull herself along the passageway. For the majority of the time she kept her eyes sealed shut, only opening them to catch a glimpse of the path she needed to take. Some fished guided her, unaware of the help they provided, and she followed the trails left by the tiny fleeing crustaceans. The water began to taper off, and pretty soon she was wading up the steep incline.

Her boots only just gave her the traction needed to make it up, footsteps alerting her once she neared the top. A goon appeared around the corner, barking

"Hey, where did _you _come from??"

She steadied herself, drawing and raising a pistol, and then replied

"Your worst nightmare and today is your unlucky day-"

Before she could follow the one liner with a barrage of bullets, the cave erupted into gunfire as he fired first. She slipped, her knee cracking the ground hard, and she too open fired. His bullets missed, thankfully because of the slip, and hers slammed into his shins. He cried out in pain and fell, sliding into the murky water below. He dropped the machine gun he possessed, cursing darkly as he struggled to regain some composure.

"Just kill me…please! Kill me now!"

Lara reached the top, spun around, and drew the second weapon.

She aimed at the rocks above, most of them already looking unstable. She stated coldly

"…My pleasure."

She destroyed the remaining rock holding up the boulders, and they all fell in one easy, swift motion. The short scream that followed was only abruptly ended, which was a little unsettling. She continued on. There was a control box wired to the side of the wall, presenting a small red button.

"_Electrical wiring? How long has Bartoli been sending people down here?"_

She pressed it, seeing machinery to her left shift in position. There was a jagged square opening on the ground, ropes bring suspended by pulleys disappeared through the manmade opening. She inched over to it, seeing that it was the contraption suspending the inflatable yellow raft. There was too much rust, however, and the button hadn't fully lowered the floatation device enough.

"_Great, I get to test gravity again. Fun…"_

She lowered herself down, dangling, and then dropped. She almost didn't stick the landing, and the tattered ropes tore instantly. She rode the raft the rest of the way down, her body jerking around from the treacherous plummet. After bobbing precariously on the water's surface, all was silent and unmoving again. A crate, which was broken when she landed on it, contained a single silver key. Etched on it was the word **Cabin**.

Satisfied with the find, she pocketed the key and swan her way back over to the remains of the ship. She scanned the rows of doors again lining the pool, this time seeing one that wasn't too damaged. She inserted the cabin key, the lock clicking accordingly, and it turned with ease.

The real trouble was when she went to open it, which refused to budge no matter how much stress she put on it. Even the strength concealed in her muscular physique was unable to force the door open.

She grunted after a final push, looking around for some available tool that she could makeshift. Among the remains, nothing popped out.

Frustrated, she kicked the wooden frame of the apparently broken door. She regretted it instantly, pain going up her calf. Now aggravated with herself, she strolled briskly away from the door and toward another branch down a hallway covered with gondolas.

The doors here had also been ruined in the crash, the pale blue glow the wood gave off setting an ominous repression in her lower gut. For the first time since she started the adventure, she didn't want to be here.

The drive to reveal the truth and punish the baddies was usually always enough to fill her drive but now was not one of those times. But after making it this far, there was no turning back.

"_One of life's little ironies…"_

She stopped, turned and returned back to the deck, and then made her way over to the ruined portion of the balcony. A long piece of the dry rotted wood was lying amongst the rubble, and she snatched it up. Swinging it like a bat, she smiled with satisfaction.

"_This should do the trick…"_

She made her way back to the stuck cabin door and leveled herself, bringing the homemade bat back. In one quick thrust, she connected the board for wood on wood splintering. The door cracked, as well as a piece of her tool. She swung once more, this time breaking the door from the frame.

She sighed out, tossed the wood behind her, and made her way forward. It was like an office, only covered in ankle high water and smothered with mildew and mold. She pinched her nose, looking around the dilapidated desk and chairs in disgust. Nothing of use. She scanned the perimeter of the room, seeing a safe open and sideways on an end table.

The contents were mostly junk now, aside from a small rusted key. A tag was attached, just barely showing her it was the _Storage Room_ key. She pocketed it greedily, nothing else catching her eye aside from another door. This one was hard to open as well, much to her dismay, but she was able to finally force it open.

"_If it isn't one of Bartoli's crew halting me its rotted wood…"_

This led back out to the deck, only now she was in a completely new area of the wreckage. A glass skylight, covered in gnarled vines and vegetation, was directly in from of her. Numerous cracks decorated the discolored glass, and for a moment it already looked broken.

She stepped down off the platform she was on and moved toward the glass, poking her head forward to peer down inside. It was dark, with lanterns from Bartoli's crew hanging on some ruined packages. She stomped it once, only enlarging some of the cracks, and she drew a pistol.

"Now you see it," she whispered, and then fired. The glass exploded, shattering into thousands of tiny, dirty shards. She finished smoothly

"…Now you don't…"

She tied some of the coiled vines together, and then used it like rope to descend into the loading bay of _Maria Doria_. She struck another flare, her eyes alert for anything shiny or anything out of place as she detached and dropped to the floor. There was some corridors to choose from, each one leading into a darkened hallway. She chose the closest and widest of the three, and instantly saw a door with a large pad lock.

"_This shouldn't be here…"_

She touched it gingerly, and then removed the storage room key. Much to her surprise it fit, and even turned to unlock the door. She heard muffled voices, and raised both nine millimeters before kicking open the door-

-and she was showered with bullets, machine gun fire slicing through the dead silence. She ducked to the side, hearing orders being barked in Italian. Once she could make out her own name being screamed, and the urgency in the way it was pronounced.

She stuck her hand around the corner and fired several blind shots at the thugs. Their fire was temporarily halted and she jumped back into the doorway, using both pistols to lay waste to all but one of the guards. After his friends had fallen, he quickly surrendered.

"Don't kill me…I have kids…"

His hands were raised and his voice quivered, making her feel more in control than ever.

She straightened the leg of her wetsuit, holstering her own weapons.

"Where's the Seraph?" She asked, knowing the storage room was its resting place.

His jaw clenched, and she saw his lips flatten into a thin line. He said through gritted teeth

"Anything but that…" His voice was now pleading.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving _Maria Doria_ without that artifact."

She slipped a hand closer to one of her guns, leaning against the door frame. She raised her eyebrows, her tone changing more serious now.

"Where is it?"

For the first time his eyes left her face, quickly glancing to the left, then back at her. It was a moved he hoped she wouldn't catch.

"I don't know. Bartoli only ordered us to watch this room, he didn't tell us why. You could ask someone else…if you hadn't killed them."

She had tuned him out however, searching the wall he had snuck a peek at.

There were several shelves, with an empty crate on the floor and many cardboard boxes soaked and ruined, among loads of more junk.

He continued to ramble, trying to regain her attention

"Listen, if you want I'll take one of my comrade's radio and ask Bartoli where this Seraph thing is and-"

"No, don't move a single hair on your body."

She drew a gun and pointed it at him, moving close enough to actually tap his forehead with the barrel.

"Where is it at, over there?" She asked, pointing to where he had looked.

"I don't know…" He stammered.

"I think you do…" She cooed, cracking a smile.

"Your crazy lady…" His expression turned angry.

She elbowed his chin, hard, knocking him out cold.

"_You can thank your kids later…"_

She moved back to the wall, swiping all of the boxes off the shelf. The contents spilled out, soaking in the puddles of water covering the hardwood floor. She kicked them around, not spotting the Seraph. The lowest shelf was now empty, and she tore it from the wall. The rust chain snapped with little effort, and it took a section of the wall with it.

Enough to reach an arm in, she crouched and looked through. It was totally dark inside, producing nothing but a rancid smell. She lit a flare and dropped it inside, seeing only a small closet-sized room. She gripped the broken section of wall and began tearing it, piece by piece, until there was enough room to squeeze through. A steady stream of water was pouring overhead, making her wary and once again reminded that she still _was_ underneath the ocean.

Very deep, underneath the ocean.

And in here she saw it, lying on a small outcrop jutting from the wall. It was more beautiful in person, the winged goddess standing proudly with her arms crossed over her chest. The expression was defiant, and the solid weight of gold only added more charm to the priceless relic.

And instantly it was in her backpack, stashed in safety.

"_I got it. The monks and the mafia have both been after this for decades. And I beat them to it… The monastery, the place where the monks guard this 'Talion'..._

_I need the location._

_I must know where these catacombs are at…"_

She stopped by the unconscious guards body and checked his pockets, coming up with an accurate blueprint of the sunken ship and more nine millimeter rounds. In his knapsack was a radio, which she made sure to keep switched off. The last thing she needed was more attention here now that she owned the Seraph. Also here was a note, handwritten from Marco Bartoli himself.

**You must make sure I'm present when the Seraph is claimed. Now that you are stationed in that storage room, I will begin to send down the troops who will protect the rest of Maria Doria's remains. We already know after Venice that Lady Croft will be after the Seraph, and no doubt she will be swift and precise in finding the location of the ship's remains. After I claim the Seraph we will quickly proceed to Tibet where we will combat the monks once again and take the Talion to fulfill the destiny of the Fiama Nera. Only then will the cult posses the power to total domination.**

**Marco Bartoli**

Along with this useful piece of information was an Emergency Inflatable Balloon deploy, enabling her a quick and smooth trip back to civilization.

"Thank you…" She muttered, patting his head as she stood up. With the map, balloon, and Seraph, Lara Croft began the journey back to the surface.


	13. Chapter 11 preview

**Chapter 11:**

**Tibetan Foothills**

_**Her ascent was rather hasty, aquatic life flashing by in blue motion blurs. She watched as **__the ghostly shadow of the sunken ship disappeared, the surface appearing to be miles away._

She broke through with a gasp of air, her balloon deploy deflating and becoming useless.

"_That wasn't so bad…"_

Somehow, she had ended up in one of the plane docks near the oil rig. 

The loading bay, filled with mechanical whistling, was only made more secluded by the constant sloshing of water. She pulled herself up slowly, spinning to see the seaplane Bartoli and his crew had brought her here in. There was a balcony above it, allowing access to the door on top of the aircraft. She squeezed out her braid, starting a stride up some adjacent steps.

"_Now, granted this boat is loaded with GPS, I make for Tibet and reach the monastry. Hopefully I find it before the others do…"_

If there weren't any maps or navigational devices on board, then she would just head for Tibet and explore it top to bottom.

"_The monk I spoke with, the one being beaten. He mentioned his particular clan protecting the 'Talion' deep within their monastery. _

_Chen Barkhang…_

_Barkhang's Monastery then?"_

"It's worth a shot" She whispered as she reached the top. She peered over the chain link banister, the destination only several feet below. She reared back and vaulted over-

-sailing through the air only for a moment before landing with a thud on the lightly bobbing plane. She was crouched, looking out into the endless ocean. Although ominous clouds filled the sky, the canvas was relatively blue and the winds calm. She stood up triumphantly, hands on her hips, and cracked a smile. The trapdoor was already open, and she jumped inside with weapons drawn. The sound of any person was absent, and quickly she relaxed.

"_First thing's first…"_

She unzipped the suit, the covered parts of her flesh breathing and touching dry air for the first time in hours. Her usual raiding attire was underneath, and she removed the belt and holsters from the SOLA wetsuit, tossing the underwater gear aside in a tiny puddle of seawater. She put the belt back on her shorts and reattached the holsters.

Her boots were in the backpack, and she removed them as well and re-laced them back to her feet. Before putting the backpack back on, however, she took out the Seraph and stared at it some more. Sunlight was streaming through the trapdoor, glinting millions of gold sparkles from the brightly finished relic. She flipped it over, seeing a small circular indention to fit it into something.

"_This is the key to the catacombs and chambers where the Talion is hidden away…"_

She traced it with her fingers, then placed it back into her inventory and returned her backpack back on her shoulders.

"…_Next."_

She sat down in the pilot's seat and focused her attention on to the controls. There were dozens of lights and switches, most that were probably useless to her, and she let out a sigh. She hadn't flown a plane since she was in high school, so this was definitely getting her adrenaline flowing. She saw the ignition switch, and she hit it without hesitation. The engine choked and sputtered first, the seat and rest of the cockpit vibrating gently as the aircraft roared to life. She saw a pair of sunglasses on the visor, and they brought back feelings of nostalgia.

The lens was perfectly round, with thin frames. The actual lens was tinted red, and they looked almost identical to the ones she had bought right before going to Peru on her previous adventure.

The only difference was the frame was black instead of gold. She put them on, also spotting a brown leather bomber jacket stashed in the passenger seat. She grinned, slipping on the slightly oversized winter coat. The white fur around the neck and wrists were comforting, and the pockets on the inside were huge and allowed for plenty of extra storage space.

She zipped it up, eyeing the several levers and knobs down by her hip to the right; all controlling the plane. She pulled down on the first one, and immediately the plane began lurching forward. It started slow at first, but quickly it picked up speed.

The window next to her was cracked slightly, and she heard the ocean kicking and thrashing at the metal body of the aircraft. Pretty soon, she was flying across the surface of the water, almost not even touching it. And pretty soon, she wasn't. The plane went up further and further up, slowly as she leaned back on the steering wheel. Somehow, she felt closer to the truth.

* * * *

_Back at __Maria Doria_

_**Shortly after Lara escapes with the balloon**_

"Move! Get out! Out of the way!"

Marco Bartoli was practically screaming at his men as he pushed his way past and into the wrecked storage room. The lone guard kept alive was now awake and sitting on the ground, a female medic who rode the submarine down with Bartoli tending to his wounds. Everyone was looking around solemnly, not a single person making eye contact with him.

"….Well?" He grumbled, his voice on the edge of eruption.

A single word wasn't said, and the tension grew higher.

"Will _someone_ show me where this goddamn artifact is at so I can get the hell _out_ of this smelly, rotten ship and back to civilization so we can PLEASE beat Lady Croft to Tibet…"

His tone rose in pitch with every word, his fist's clenched tightly at his waist.

The medic stood up, and was the first to speak.

"Sir, this one says that he was knocked unconscious after the rest of the troops were killed. He said while he was out this Croft woman searched and must have found the location of the Seraph."

Her voice quivered.

"…And?!" Bartoli howled and extended his hand, as if expecting the Seraph to be set into it.

She twisted her hands around the medical pack she was holding.

"And…I think we should return to the surface and head to the Monastery of _Barkhang_ and reclaim the Seraph before-"

"-BEFORE WHAT?!"

Everyone looked down, the medic standing her ground.

"….Before Lara Croft gets there and steals the Talion away from us by means of using the Seraph."

The skin on his face went red, beads of perspiration trickling down his forehead. He pointed at the guard slumped to the floor.

"Is that the one who let her escape with the artifact?!" He barked. She nodded, and before anyone could react he drew an automatic machine gun and open fired into his chest. In seconds there were holes rattling his torso, each one bleeding and bursting with blood and fluid. He was alive only a moment to scream in agonizing pain, before the gun was aimed at his handsome face. Before long it looked like a mass of red; distorted beyond human recognition.

The storage room went silent again.

Bartoli marched to the doorway, stopping only to breath in a harsh whisper

"We go to Tibet and kill this thief before our destiny is ruined."

He rushed out, everyone still awestruck at the gruesome sight. He returned, screaming at the top of his lungs

"NOW!!"

Everyone quickly filed out of the room.

* * * *

_4 Hours Later_

_**Remote Tibetan Mountains**_

The deep blue hues had been Lara's focus for the past hour or so, her eyes sometimes drifting to watch the landscape beneath her change before her very eyes. Now, back in China, the frigid temperatures of Tibet had caused her to become wary of environmental hazards. She was soaring over snow-capped mountain tops, civilization somehow not reaching these ends of the continent. She looked around, her jaw set with fierce determination.

The blur of white snow, blue sky, and grey mountains was all slightly nauseous, and made it more difficult to pick out specific landmarks. The cockpit rattled slightly, followed by something much more sinister. A rhythmic, timed beeping. It was a high pitched sound, repeating the alarming sound in high frequency. She was instantly scanning the controls, spotting a red light flashing in time with the emergency beeping.

Several tiny hands were retreating in circular dials, most of them falling at heart stopping speeds. One was fuel, and she felt her stomach drop to her rear. Before she could even make sense of the jumbled controls and messages, something far worse occurred. The engine sputtered, the propellers slowly spinning to a stop, and then the familiar hum of life died completely from the aircraft; leaving only the faint whooshing sound of the plane soaring without power through open air at break neck speed. She glanced back out of the windshield-

-letting out a small gasp as a torrential mountain barreled right toward her. She gripped the steering wheel and pulled, the seaplane jerking up at the last second. The bottom scraped the ridge of the rocky surface hard, tossing her up in her seat.

"_Thank god for seatbelts…"_

Two more were dead ahead, and there was no more juice to coax it up any higher. Disaster was spelling out, and fast. She cried out as the entire hull rattled before the wings smashed into each side of both mountains. A deafening explosion sounded, followed by the grinding sound of metal tearing away.

The wings of the plane ripped off cleanly, the body and what was left now careening down a hillside. Mountains and snow went by in a blur, everything rocking and shaking out of control. The front windshield terrified her the moment she looked up, only a narrow path and dead end speeding toward the screaming metal deathtrap.

She detached her seatbelt, not taking another look out of the windows, and scanned the floor. Miraculously a parachute was perched under some dirty magazines, next to a fire extinguisher. A hump of rock on the path threw Lara violently to the ground as soon as she grabbed the device, tools and other supplies flying out of cabinets.

All the while a steady roar blasted her eardrums as the plane speed closer and closer to a giant cliff; this unknowingly to Miss Croft. She stood back up and opened the trapdoor above, freezing wind immediately rushing in. She climbed up and jumped out of the plane, already tugging the cord of the parachute-

-and she was instantly hundreds of feet away, sailing through the sky, and she watched the plane she was _just_ in go over the cliff and crash into a rocky crevice in a fiery explosion. She steered over to an opening in the foothills, detaching and landing on a sloped part of the mountainside. The air was cool and silent, the wind howling every so often.

From here on out, it was on foot.


End file.
